Judge Speaks Out Against Federal Death Penalty Prosecutions
U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block (E.D.N.Y.) recently scolded federal prosecutors for seeking a death sentence against Kenneth McGriff.
He told prosecutors, "I feel, as an officer, as a judge, that this is an absurd prosecution based upon what I have heard. I think I have a responsibility to let authorities know. ... There's just no chance that 12 jurors will vote for the death penalty in this case, and I think it is good for us to save money, if we can do that, and judicial resources."
Judge Block was right: the government failed to convince a unanimous jury to vote for death. And he's right again in a NY Times op ed that scolds the Justice Department for its ghoulish desire to kill defendants.
Over the last few years there has been a surge in death penalty prosecutions authorized by the United States attorney general, both nationwide and in federal cases in New York. But these have resulted in disproportionately few death penalty verdicts, at enormous costs and burdens to the judicial system.
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