After 30 Years, Architects of Death Penalty Guidelines Withdraw Their Support

Interview with Richard Dieter, executive director of the death Penalty Information Center, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

In early January, the legal institute responsible for creating a framework for the death penalty and believing 30 years ago that it would create a fair application of capital punishment statutes, withdrew its support while not coming out forcefully for repeal.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was carried out arbitrarily by states, was cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional. At that point, the American Law Institute, made up of the nation's most respected lawyers, judges and legal scholars, developed guidelines to help determine which individuals convicted of murder should face the death penalty. They included consideration of aggravating circumstances, such as multiple victims, death of a police officer, and the victim's age. They also considered mitigating circumstances, such as the conditions under which the perpetrator was raised, abuse he or she may have suffered, and mental incompetence. The Supreme Court relied heavily on these guidelines in determining whether states could re-institute their death penalties beginning in 1976.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, about the Law Institute's withdrawal of support for its own capital punishment guidelines and what this could mean for efforts to abolish the death penalty in the U.S.

Contact the Death Penalty Information Center at (202) 289-2275 or visit their website at www.deathpenalty.org

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