Inadequate defense counsel in capital cases produces wrongful convictions and exonerations

Evidence

In part, this has to do with the quality of legal representation in capital cases. Some states have capital defender offices where attorneys specialize in death-penalty cases, but many do not, including several Southern states that send many offenders to death row. Beyond the question of legal errors, there is evidence that innocent persons have been condemned and sometimes executed. Since 1976, more than 160 people have been exonerated and freed from death row. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2050

Categorization

• XREF: Ties directly to the course’s justice and fairness values—whether equal protection is real when counsel quality varies by state. — connects to: Governments employ public defenders because appointed and contract counsel systems fail. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 723; Low assigned-counsel fees incentivize attorneys to take overwhelming caseloads and avoid trials. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1656; Capital verdicts are often reversed due to inadequate counsel and condemned innocents — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2050 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Capital verdicts are often reversed due to inadequate counsel and condemned innocents #corroborates (1.00) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2050
• Unequal legal representation raises the risk of convicting the innocent. #corroborates (1.00) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 722
• Capital convictions are frequently reversed before an execution occurs #corroborates (1.00) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2049
• Defense attorneys must confront their own bias before fixing the system #qualifies (0.90) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 703
• Bias affects even well-intentioned egalitarian defense attorneys who represent the accused #complicates (0.85) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 665
• Documented error in capital cases drove one governor to commute an entire death row #complicates (0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2050