07 LC 29
2759
Senate
Resolution 364
By:
Senators Fort of the 39th, Davenport of the 44th, Orrock of the 36th, Stoner of
the 6th, Thompson of the 5th and others
A
RESOLUTION
Creating
the Georgia Capital Punishment Study Commission to study the death penalty; to
provide for the powers, duties, and compensation of its members; to urge the
General Assembly to act in response to recommendations from the study
commission; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
life is the most valuable possession of a human being; and
WHEREAS,
there has been increasing public awareness of cases of individuals wrongfully
convicted of murder, in Georgia and elsewhere in the nation; and
WHEREAS,
the General Assembly is aware that the possibility of mistakes in the death
penalty process may undermine public confidence in our criminal justice system;
and
WHEREAS,
the execution of an innocent person by the State of Georgia would be a grave and
irreversible injustice; and
WHEREAS,
in January, 2006, the American Bar Association published
Ensuring Fairness and
Accuracy in State Death Penalty Systems: The Georgia Death Penalty Assessment
Report, which analyzed 12 issues related
to Georgia´s laws, procedures, and practices related to the death penalty
in Georgia; and
WHEREAS,
there is public concern that demographic factors influence decisions to seek or
impose the death penalty; and
WHEREAS,
the experience of this state with the death penalty has been characterized by
significant expenditures of money and time; and
WHEREAS,
in order for the state to protect its moral and ethical integrity, the state
must ensure a justice system which is impartial, equitable, and
competent.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
There
is created the Georgia Capital Punishment Study Commission. The commission
shall be composed of 19 members as follows:
(1)
The majority leader of the Senate or his or her designee;
(2)
The minority leader of the Senate or his or her designee;
(3)
The majority leader of the House of Representatives or his or her
designee;
(4)
The minority leader of the House of Representatives or his or her
designee;
(5)
Two members appointed by the Governor, one of whom is employed by the State
Board of Pardons and Paroles and one of whom is employed by the Department of
Corrections;
(6)
Two members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, both of whom are members of
the Association County Commissioners of Georgia;
(7)
The Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court or his or her
designee;
(8)
The director of the Office of the Georgia Capital Defender or his or her
designee;
(9)
The director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council or his or her
designee;
(10)
The chairperson of the Prosecuting Attorneys´ Council of Georgia or his or
her designee;
(11)
The Attorney General or his or her designee;
(12)
The president of the State Bar of Georgia or his or her designee;
(13)
The director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or his or her
designee;
(14)
The chairperson of the Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Team or his or her
designee;
(15)
A member of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers who is death
penalty qualified, appointed by the president of the Georgia Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers;
(16)
The president of the Georgia chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness
or his or her designee; and
(17)
The president of the Georgia chapter of the American Association on Mental
Retardation or his or her designee.
Members
shall be appointed within 60 days of enactment of this resolution. Appointments
should reflect the diversity of the population of Georgia. The commission shall
choose a chairperson from among its members. Any vacancy in the membership
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
SECTION
2.
(a)
The commission shall study all aspects of the death penalty as currently
administered in the State of Georgia, including, but not limited to, the
following issues:
(1)
The recommendations made by the American Bar Association;
(2)
The recommendations of the Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Report;
(3)
The selection of defendants in Georgia for capital trials;
(4)
Whether there is a significant difference in the crimes of those selected for
the punishment of death as opposed to those who receive life in
prison;
(5)
Whether the death penalty rationally serves a legitimate penological interest
such as deterrence;
(6)
Whether the state should establish a state-wide clearinghouse to review
decisions to seek the death penalty and any other issues for which a state-wide
clearinghouse would be useful in the context of death penalty cases;
and
(7)
The standard of proof for proving mental illness or mental retardation in the
context of death penalty cases.
(b)
The commission shall include in its review
Ensuring Fairness and
Accuracy in State Death Penalty Systems: The Georgia Death Penalty Assessment
Report, dated January, 2006, and the
recommendations of such report;
Mandatory Justice:
Eighteen Reforms to the Death Penalty, a
report of The Constitution Project´s bipartisan, blue ribbon commission of
capital punishment supporters and opponents; nonpartisan, academic, or
government inquiries into the administration of capital punishment at state and
national levels; and all data on homicides in Georgia for the past ten years and
the nature of the disposition of each case including cases in which the death
penalty was sought but not imposed and cases in which the death penalty could
have been sought but was not
sought.
(c) The commission shall make recommendations to guarantee that the application and administration of capital punishment in this state and the public policy of this state regarding capital punishment is free from bias and error and designed to guarantee fairness and accuracy and propose new legislation, if appropriate.
(c) The commission shall make recommendations to guarantee that the application and administration of capital punishment in this state and the public policy of this state regarding capital punishment is free from bias and error and designed to guarantee fairness and accuracy and propose new legislation, if appropriate.
SECTION
3.
The
commission is entitled to the assistance and service of the employees of any
state, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as
it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes and to employ
stenographic and clerical assistance.
SECTION
4.
The
commission shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs, issues, and
problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend to the General
Assembly any action or legislation which the commission deems necessary or
appropriate. The commission may conduct such meetings at such places and at
such times as it deems necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully
and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives
and purposes of this resolution. The legislative members of the commission
shall receive the allowances provided for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated. Citizen members shall receive a daily expense
allowance in the amount specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21 of
the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as well as the mileage or transportation
allowance authorized for state employees. Members of the commission who are
state officials, other than legislative members, and state employees shall
receive no compensation for their services on the commission, but they shall be
reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties as
members of the commission in the same manner as they are reimbursed for expenses
in their capacities as state officials or employees. The funds necessary for
the reimbursement of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative
members, and state employees shall come from funds appropriated to or otherwise
available to their respective departments. All other funds necessary to carry
out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds appropriated to the
House of Representatives and the Senate. The expenses and allowances authorized
by this resolution shall not be received by any member of the commission for
more than ten days unless additional days are authorized. The commission shall
make a report of its findings and recommendations, with suggestions for proposed
legislation, if any; such report shall be made on or before December 31, 2009.
The commission shall stand abolished on December 31, 2009.