DRAFT
The death penalty in Kentucky: broken beyond repair
By Author(s)
Three years ago, a report was released by the American Bar Association
revealing serious problems related to fairness and accuracy in the use of the
death penalty in Kentucky.
The report followed an exhaustive two-year review of every case in which the
death penalty had been imposed in the Commonwealth since 1976; the review
was conducted by an assessment team of Kentucky attorneys, former Kentucky
Supreme Court justices and law school professors. The findings were numerous
and troubling. Among them:
¢ Of the last 78 people sentenced to death in Kentucky, 50 have had a
death sentence overturned on appeal by Kentucky or federal courts—an
error rate of more than 60 percent.
e Atleast 10 of the 78 people sentenced to death were represented by
defense attorneys who were subsequently disbarred.
« There is no requirement that evidence in criminal cases be retained as
long as a defendant remains incarcerated, and the problem of lost
evidence significantly diminishes the effectiveness of a state law that
allows post-conviction DNA testing prior to execution.
« There are no uniform standards on eyewitness identifications and
interrogations, and many of Kentucky's largest law enforcement agencies
do not fully adhere to best practices to guard against false eyewitness
identifications and false confessions.
¢ Kentucky public defenders handling capital cases have caseloads that far
exceed national averages and salaries that are 31 percent below those of
similarly experienced attorneys in surrounding states.
¢ There are no statewide standards governing the qualifications and training
of attorneys appointed to handle capital cases.
« Kentucky does not have adequate protections to ensure that death
sentences are not imposed or carried out on a defendant with mental
disabilities.
¢ There is a lack of data-keeping throughout the administration of the death
penalty in Kentucky, making it impossible to guarantee that the system is
operating fairly, effectively and efficiently.
These findings were so disturbing that the assessment team recommended that
Kentucky suspend all executions until the issues are adequately addressed. A
poll taken when the report was released found 62 percent of likely Kentucky
voters statewide supported a temporary halt to executions. The support for a
suspension was consistent across the state regardless of gender, geography or
party registration.
12.2.14
DRAFT
Unfortunately, there has been no significant change in Kentucky's death penalty
law since this sobering report was released, although legislation has been
proposed to address some of the problems it identified. Judicial action
temporarily stopping executions in Kentucky has been related to concerns about
the method of executions and drugs used, not the findings of the ABA team.
Without question, this is a difficult issue, and efforts to “fix” the death penalty in
Kentucky will be costly and time consuming. But there is one approach that is
simpler and less expensive: abolish the death penalty and replace it with life in
prison without parole for convicted offenders.
Studies have shown the cost of numerous legal appeals prompted by death
sentences is far greater than the cost of locking up offenders for the rest of their
lives. The death penalty also traps the families of victims in a decades-long cycle
of uncertainty, court hearings and waiting for an execution that may never come.
The ABA review suggests that the death penalty is broken beyond repair in
Kentucky. Replacing it with life without parole is the best approach for our state —
removing the possibility that an innocent person will be executed, saving limited
tax dollars, protecting public safety and providing certainty and justice to the
families of victims.
12.2.14
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted