Lawyer's Group Proposes Freeze On Capital Punishment

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/7156

Lawyer's Group Proposes Freeze On Capital Punishment - 10/30/07

Should there be a nationwide freeze of capital punishment? One of the country’s leading organizations of lawyers thinks so.


By Jesse Russell

Opponents of the death penalty welcomed a report on Sunday as the American Bar Association called for a nationwide freeze to executions. The ABA issued a report detailing many problems with the practice of capital punishment. Those problems include issues with DNA evidence collection, misidentification by witnesses, and racial disparity. While the organization has not taken a specific position on capital punishment, it has said that before states that still practice the death penalty take another life they should first review procedures. The United States carried out 53 executions in 2006.