Capital Punishment Guide
Key Resources
Connecticut Practice Book
1A §23-22 The petition 1A §23-23 Return of noncomplying petition 1A §23-24 Preliminary consideration of judicial authority 1A §23-25 Waiver of filing fees and costs of service 1A §23-26 Appointment of counsel 1A §23-27 Venue for habeas corpus 1A §23-28 Transfer of habeas corpus 1A §23-29 Dismissal 1A §23-30 The return 1A §23-31 Reply to the return 1A §23-32 Amendments 1A §23-33 Request for a more specific statement 1A §23-34 Summary procedures for habeas corpus petitions 1A §23-35 Schedule for filing pleadings 1A §23-36 The expanded record 1A §23-37 Summary judgment in habeas corpus 1A §23-38 Discovery in habeas corpus 1A §23-39 Depositions in habeas corpus 1A §23-40 Court appearance in habeas corpus 1A §23-41 Motion for leave to withdraw appearance of appointed counsel 1A §23-42 Judicial action on motion for permission to withdraw appearance.
Includes Rules of Professional Conduct; online and in print - L3 Reading Room
Death Penalty Law Research Guide
DSM (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM-IV-TR)
E-books from the DSM library via Psychiatry Online (Yale subscription) - also available in print through YUL
Summaries of United States Supreme Court Capital Cases
(pdf)
Statutes & Forms
Connecticut
Capital Punishment in Connecticut
A page of resources from the Connecticut State Library which contain links to specific statutes, legislative history, and recent case law dealing explicitly with capital punishment in Connecticut.; also available in print in the L3 Reading Room
Connecticut General Statutes
C.G.S.A. §52-466 Application for writ of habeas corpus. Service. Return.
C.G.S.A. §52-467 Punishment for refusal to obey writ or accept copy
C.G.S.A. §52-468 Commitment for contempt; application for discharge
C.G.S.A. §52-469 Repealed
C.G.S.A. §52-470 Summary disposal of the case. Appeal by person convicted of crime
C.G.S.A. §51-186 Hearing at the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Somers
Connecticut Practice Book
1A §23-22 The petition 1A §23-23 Return of noncomplying petition 1A §23-24 Preliminary consideration of judicial authority 1A §23-25 Waiver of filing fees and costs of service 1A §23-26 Appointment of counsel 1A §23-27 Venue for habeas corpus 1A §23-28 Transfer of habeas corpus 1A §23-29 Dismissal 1A §23-30 The return 1A §23-31 Reply to the return 1A §23-32 Amendments 1A §23-33 Request for a more specific statement 1A §23-34 Summary procedures for habeas corpus petitions 1A §23-35 Schedule for filing pleadings 1A §23-36 The expanded record 1A §23-37 Summary judgment in habeas corpus 1A §23-38 Discovery in habeas corpus 1A §23-39 Depositions in habeas corpus 1A §23-40 Court appearance in habeas corpus 1A §23-41 Motion for leave to withdraw appearance of appointed counsel 1A §23-42 Judicial action on motion for permission to withdraw appearance.
Includes Rules of Professional Conduct; online and in print - L3 Reading Room
Guide to Connecticut Legislative History
A brief guide to explaining how to locate legislative history documents at the Connecticut State Library
How to Compile Connecticut Legislative Histories
Online from the CT General Assembly
Federal
Federal Judicial Center : Resources for Managing Capital Cases
The Federal Judicial Center assists federal judges with case management issues in capital cases. The site contains numerous sample forms and resources for federal death-penalty prosecutions and capital habeas cases.
United States Code Service
(1972-Present): “Notes to Uncodified Laws and Treaties” - L3 Reading Room
28 U.S.C. §1446 Procedure for removal (from state to federal court)
28 U.S.C. §2241 Power to grant writ
28 U.S.C. §2242 Application
28 U.S.C. §2243 Issuance of writ; return; hearing; decision
28 U.S.C. §2244 Finality of determination
28 U.S.C. §2245 Certificate of trial judge admissible in evidence
28 U.S.C. §2246 Evidence; depositions; affidavits
28 U.S.C. §2247 Documentary evidence
28 U.S.C. §2248 Return or answer; conclusiveness
28 U.S.C. §2249 Certified copies of indictment, plea and judgment; duty of respondent
28 U.S.C. §2250 Indigent petitioner entitled to documents without cost
28 U.S.C. §2251 Stay of state court proceedings
28 U.S.C. §2252 Notice
28 U.S.C. §2253 Appeal
28 U.S.C. §2254 State custody, remedies in federal court
28 U.S.C. §2255 Federal custody; remedies on motion attacking sentence
Treatises & Practice Manuals
The Law Library has a large collection of Capital Punishment materials available on the 4th floor and with a call number beginning with KF9228.C2. The library also has a large collection of materials related to Criminal Law and Criminal Justice in general. Of note:
Capital Punishment
Edited with an introduction by Margery B. Koosed (part of a series in Controversies in Constitutional Law) (1996) - L4
Death Penalty USA 2005 - 2006
Delfino, Michelangelo and Mary E. Day. (contains case histories of yearly executions)
Forensic Science Resources
A Litigator's Guide to DNA: from the Laboratory to the Courtroom
Michaelis, Ron C., Robert G. Flanders, and Paula H. Wulff (2008) - L4
Open Directory: Forensic Science
Web directory of links to Forensic Science resources
Westlaw's Medical Litigator Database
Links to an array of medical journals and guides
Sentencing Mitigation Resources
Aggravation and Mitigation in Capital Cases: What do Jurors Think?
Garvey, Stephen P., 98 Colum. L. Rev. 1538, 1539 (1998) - for information on the most (and least) persuasive mitigating factors
Circumstances surrounding the crime
Consult the Forensic Science Resources links
DSM-IV-TR casebook [electronic resource]
A learning companion to the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (e-book); published by the American Psychiatric Association, the DSM is particularly useful for cognitive disorders, substance disorders, and psychotic disorders.
Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases
ABA (2003) - (pdf)
Imposition of sentence for capital felony
Conn. Gen. Stat. 53a-46a (2008) - available on Lexis
Mental Disorder as an Exemption from the Death Penalty: The ABA-IRR Task Force Recommendations
Slobogin, Christopher - 544 Cath. U. L. Rev. 1133 (2005); information on why diminished mental capacity should be a mitigating factor can be found in law journals
Mental Health and Expert Manual
Among its many uses, the manual contains information on locating mental health experts, mitigation interviews, and a bibliography on Mental Health and the Law.
Mental Retardation and Diminished Mental Capacity
Look for resources for litigators in Westlaw's AMJUR-TRIALS database. In this instance, resources for determining mental retardation, mental retardation evidentiary hearings and trials, the question of malingering, as well as debates about the Age of Onset requirements, can all be found in Capital Cases Involving Mental Retardation, 93 Am. Jur. Trials 1 (2008). Consult Lexis's Total Litigator Database for medical research and search by injury/disorder. While many jurisdictions consider diminished mental capacity to be a mitigating factor in capital cases, many lawyers have reported that jurors actually perceive it to be an aggravating factor. Consult medical journals about the rates of recidivism among mentally ill. Yale provides access to a number of useful journals electronically, including the Journal of Psychiatry & Law.
Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports
Published by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (previously American Association on Mental Retardation) (2002) - on reserve at Medical Library
Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty Cases
ABA (2008) - (pdf)
Violence and the Capital Jury: Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement and the Impulse to Condemn to Death
Haney, Craig - 49 Stan. L. Rev. 1447 (1997)
Death Penalty Centers & Clinics
Capital Defense Weekly
Provides updates on cases and scheduled executions and links to legal information in a blog format
Lethal Injection.Org
From Boalt Hall - includes the Baze v. Rees Resource Kit
The Innocent Network Amicus Brief Bank
Contains numerous briefs filed by the Innocence Project
Responsibilities of a Capital Defense Attorney
Capital Defense Weekly
Provides updates on cases and scheduled executions and links to legal information in a blog format
The Innocent Network Amicus Brief Bank
Contains numerous briefs filed by the Innocence Project
Stephen Bright Bibliography
Capital Punishment
The Failure to Achieve Fairness: Race and Poverty Continue to Influence who Dies
Symposium - Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Litigating Under the Eighth Amendment; 11 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 23 (2008)
Will the Death Penalty Remain Alive in the Twenty-First Century? International Norms, Discrimination, Arbitrariness, and the Risk of Executing the Innocent
2001 Wis. L. Rev. 1 (2001)
Developing Themes in Closing Argument and Elsewhere: Lessons from Capital Cases
27 Litigation 40 (2000)
Death Penalty Moratorium: Fairness, Integrity at Stake Speaking Out in Favor of the ABA's Position
13 Crim. Just. 28 (1998)
The Death Penalty as the Answer to Crime: Costly, Counterproductive, and Corrupting
36 Santa Clara L. Rev. 1069 (1996)
Conference: The Death Penalty in the Twenty-First Century
Jamin B. Raskin, Ira P. Robbins, Stephen B. Bright, Edward Chikofsky, Laurie Ekstrand, Harriet C. Ganson, Paul D. Kamenar, et al. - 45 Am. U. L. Rev. 239 (1995)
Commission Report: Death Penalty on Trial
Henry Schwarzschild, William A. Schabas, David Matas, Diann Yvonne Rust-Tierney, Barbara Frey, Neal Walker, Stephen B. Bright, et al. - Amnesty International USA, 22 Am. J. Crim. L. 272 (1994)
Counsel - The Right to a Lawyer
Legal Representation for the Poor: Can Society Afford This Much Injustice?
The Right to Counsel in Death Penalty and Other Criminal Cases: Neglect of the Most Fundamental Right and What We Should Do About It
The Independence of the American Lawyer: Counsel for Poor Defendants
Video interview/podcast with Stephen Bright on Reforming Indigent Defense at American Constitution Society Convention, June 19, 2010.
Lecture on the Right to Counsel
Vanderbilt Law School, Nov. 9, 2011
Exchange regarding representation of poor people accused of crimes in Georgia
Stephen B. Bright & Andrew A. Mickle
Agitator of the Year: Efforts to Create a Public Defender System in Georgia
Renaud, Trisha (2003) - Fulton County Daily Report: 4-10
Neither Equal Nor Just: The Rationing and Denial of Legal Services to the Poor When Life and Liberty are at Stake
1997 Ann. Surv. Am. L. 783 (1997)
Counsel for the Poor: The Death Sentence Not for the the Worst Crime but for the Worst Lawyer
103 Yale L. J. 1835 (1994)
Death by Lottery -- Procedural Bar of Constitutional Claims in Capital Cases Due to Inadequate Representation of Indigent Defendants
92 W. Va. L. Rev. 679 (1990)
Criminal Justice - Generally
Casualties of the War on Crime: Fairness, Reliability and the Credibility of Criminal Justice Systems
51 U. Miami L. Rev. 413 (1997)
Is Fairness Irrelevant?: The Evisceration of Federal Habeas Corpus Review and Limits on the Ability of State Courts to Protect Fundamental Rights
54 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1 (1997)
The Electric Chair and the Chain Gang: Choices and Challenges for America's Future
71 Notre Dame L. Rev. 845 (1996)
The Politics of Crime and the Death Penalty: Not "Soft on Crime," but Hard on the Bill of Rights
39 St. Louis U. L. J. 479 (1992)
In Defense of Life: Enforcing the Bill of Rights on Behalf of Poor, Minority and Disadvantaged Persons Facing the Death Penatly
57 Mo. L. Rev. 849 (1992)
Judicial Independence
Judges and the Politics of Death: Deciding Between the Bill of Rights and the Next Election in Capital Cases
Bright, Stephen B. & Patrick J. Keenan - 75 B. U. L. Rev. 759 (1995)
Political Attacks on the Judiciary: Can Justice be Done Amid Efforts to Intimidate and Remove Judges from Office for Unpopular Decisions?
72 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 308 (1997)
The Need for Timeliness and Independence to Ensure Fairness and the Appearance of Justice
Stephen B. Bright, Rene Guerra, Mike Heiskell, & Rodney Ellis - 42 S. Tex. L. Rev. 1015 (2001)
Elected Judges and the Death Penalty in Texas: Why Full Habeas Corpus Review by Independent Federal Judges is Indispensable to Protecting Constitutional Rights
78 Tex. L. Rev. 1805 (2000)
Breaking the Most Vulnerable Branch: Do Rising Threats to Judicial Independence Preclude Due Process in Capital cases?
Stephen B. Bright, Charles F. Baird, George H. Kendall, Stephen F. Hanlon, Charles J. Ogletree Jr., & Penny J. White (panel discussion) - 31 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 123 (1999)
Can Judicial Independence be Attained in the South? Overcoming History, Elections, and Misperceptions about the Role of the Judiciary
14 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 817 (1998)
Racial Discrimination
Term 'boy' is evidence of racial bias
Stephen B. Bright
Supreme Court decision in Snyder v. Louisiana
522 U.S., 128 S.Ct. 1203 (2008)
Discrimination, Death and Denial: The Tolerance of Racial Discrimination in Infliction of the Death Penalty
35 Santa Clara L. Rev. 433 (1995)
Supreme Court decision in Amadeo v. Zant
486 U.S. 214 (1988)
