Justice
Ginsburg Backs Moratorium E-Mail
Supreme
Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Monday she supports a proposed state
moratorium on the death penalty, adding that accused murderers with good
lawyers "do not get the death penalty."
Ginsburg
criticized the often "meager" amount of money spent to defend poor
people, and said she would be "glad to see" Maryland become the 2nd
state after Illinois to pass a moratorium on imposition of the death penalty.
"I
have yet to see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on
eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented
at trial," Ginsburg said in a lecture on the importance of public service
law.
"People
who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty," she
added later.
Maryland
lawmakers were considering a moratorium as the legislative session neared a
close Monday.
Ginsburg
has gone on record as saying she would have granted last-minute stays, or
delays, in capital cases. The Supreme Court has at least a 5-member majority
in favor of the death penalty in general.
The
justices have agreed to hear a case next fall testing whether mentally
retarded people may be executed.
Ginsburg
spoke at the University of the District of Columbia.
(source:
Associated Press)
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Europeans
Back US Moratorium Also
European
lawmakers and international activists on Monday called for a worldwide ban on
the death penalty and accused the United States of setting the wrong example
for other countries.
The
parliamentary presidents of France, Germany and Italy were among the
politicians that met in Paris ahead of an international conference against the
death penalty to be held in Strasbourg from June 21 to 23.
"The
fact that America continues to operate with the death penalty is a very big
drawback and handicap to everyone else," said Russel Johnston, president
of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly. The U.S. position "can
be used by Saudi Arabia, it can be used by Bangladesh, by China as a
justification," he said. The June conference has been organized by the
French-based Group Against the Death Penalty.
(source:
International Herald Tribune)
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