Judicature, the Journal of AJS
March/April 2006, Volume 89, Number 5

Contents:

Articles
Introduction: The effects of capital punishment on the administration of justice  
by David McCord, a professor at Drake University Law School and former director of the American Society National Jury Center (david.mccord@drake.edu).

248 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

The shadow of death: The effect of capital punishment on American criminal law and policy  
by Carol Steiker, a professor at Harvard Law School (steiker@law.harvard.edu) and Jordan Steiker, Cooper K. Ragan Regents Professor of Law, University of Texas School of Law (jsteiker@law.utexas.edu).

Despite few executions and the relatively small number of offenders on death row, the death penalty exerts a disproportionate influence over the rest of the vast criminal justice system.

250 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Tinkering with the machinery of death: Capital punishment's toll on the American judiciary  
by Michael Hintze, a senior attorney at Microsoft Corporation (mhintze@microsoft.com).

The result of the capital punishment system has been to impose a number of extreme burdens and hardships on the judiciary.

254 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Capital punishment and the administration of justice: a trial prosecutor's perspective  
by Bill Hawkins, Assistant District Attorney, Harris County Texas (HAWKINS_BILL@dao.hctx.net).

The impact of the death penalty on the criminal justice system is not as great as claimed, but whatever the impact it is worth the price.

258 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Defending death penalty judgments  
by Dane R. Gillette, Senior Assistant Attorney General, California Department of Justice (dane.gillette@doj.ca.gov).

The defense of a capital judgment by state counsel is a long-term commitment of time and resources.

262 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

How the malfunctioning death penalty challenges the criminal justice system  
by R. Neal Walker, director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center in New Orleans, Louisiana (nealw@thejusticecenter.org).

A hard look at the nation's experience with capital punishment yields the sobering conclusion that the system is deeply flawed and begs for reform.

265 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

When jurors choose to see, they choose life  
by Deborah A. Goins, a 1982 graduate of Drake Law School, is an assistant public defender in Polk County, Florida (DGoins@pd10.state.fl.us).

269 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Living with the death penalty  
by Henry Leyte-Vidal, a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, was appointed to the Miami-Dade County Court in 1999 and to the Circuit Court in 2002. He was nominated to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal in 2004. At the time of his death on March 26, 2006, he was assigned to the General Jurisdiction Division of the Circuit Court in Miami and Scott J. Silverman, a graduate of the University of Tulsa School of Law, was elected to the Dade County Court in 1991 and to the Circuit Court in 1998. He, too, was nominated to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal in 2004. He is presently assigned to the General Jurisdiction Division of the Circuit Court in Miami (scott@the-beach.net).

The judges who preside over death penalty cases are learned men and women dedicated to carrying out the law. They are also human beings with feelings and emotions who at times make the most difficult decisions in American jurisprudence.

270 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

The impacts of capital cases on a federal trial court  
by Benjamin A. Goldberger, an associate in the Trial Department of McDermott Will & Emery LLP in Boston, Massachusetts. Before joining McDermott, he served for two years as a law clerk to United States District Judge Mark L. Wolf in the District of Massachusetts (bgoldberger@mwe.com).

As the first capital case tried in Boston in over 30 years demonstrated, such cases present unique challenges.

274 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Effects of capital punishment on the justice system: Reflections of a state supreme court justice  
by Brent E. Dickson, has been an Associate Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court since 1986. He has participated in his court's appellate review of capital cases involving 86 defendants, voting to vacate the death sentence either on direct appeal or in appeal from collateral proceedings as to 36 of these defendants and to affirm the sentence in all appellate proceedings as to 50 of them (bdickson@courts.state.in.us).

Capital cases not only impose significant burdens, but also shape public knowledge, trust, and confidence in the judicial system.

278 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

"I didn't know it'd be so hard": Jurors' emotional reactions to serving on a capital trial  
by Michael E. Antonio was the Senior Research Scientist and Lead Project Manager of the Capital Jury Project (Phase II) in the Criminal Justice Research Center at Northeastern University from September 2000 to May 2005. (m.e.antonio@gmail.com).

Interviews with jurors who served on capital murder cases revealed that many experienced significant stress and suffered extreme emotional setbacks.

282 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Balancing the scales of justice  
by Dan S. Levey is the Advisor for Victims to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, National President of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc, (POMC) and National Vice President of the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA). This article in no way represents the views of the Arizona Governor's Office, POMC, or NOVA.

We must balance the rights of the accused and convicted with those of victims who have suffered one of the most horrific experiences one could ever encounter.

289 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

The impact of capital punishment on families of defendants and murder victims' family members  
by Rachel King teaches legal writing at Howard Law School and is the author of Don't Kill in Our Name: Families of Murder Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty and Capital Consequences: Families of the Condemned Tell Their Stories. (rachel@takomavillage.org).

The families of both murder victims and defendants are adversely affected by the death penalty.

292 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

"A poster child for us"  
by Robert Blecker, a professor at New York Law School (rblecker@nyls.edu).

The most heinous killers, although not yet 18 when they murdered, may still deserve to die.

297 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

The right decision on the juvenile death penalty  
by Craig M. Bradley, the James Louis Calamaras Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington (bradley@indiana.edu).

The Court correctly held that because of the unfinished nature of juveniles' personalities, they can never be classified among those defendants who are depraved enough to be sentenced to death.

297 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Afterword: If capital punishment were subject to consumer protection laws  
by David McCord, a professor at Drake University Law School and director of the American Society National Jury Center (david.mccord@drake.edu).

304 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

Editorial

Systemic flaws in our criminal justice system

Reforms that have been implemented or suggested in recent years in the death penalty context reveal systemic flaws in the criminal justice system.

244 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)

President's Report

Reflections on the retreat

by Allan D. Sobel

248 JUDICATURE 89 (March-April 2006)