PRINTER'S NO. 1287
No. 1111 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY MYERS, WATERS, C. WILLIAMS, LAUGHLIN, YOUNGBLOOD,
WASHINGTON, JAMES, THOMAS, CURRY AND HORSEY, MARCH 21, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 21, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, imposing a temporary
3 suspension of the death penalty; and establishing a
4 commission on the death penalty.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
8 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
9 § 9711.1. Temporary suspension of death penalty.
10 (a) Suspension.--No execution of a defendant shall take
11 place for two years from the effective date of this section.
12 (b) Commission on the death penalty.--A commission on the
13 death penalty shall be created to study the law that provides
14 for the death penalty and the administration of the death
15 penalty in this Commonwealth. The commission shall make
16 recommendations for amendments to the death penalty law to
17 provide assurances that:
18 (1) defendants who are sentenced to death are in fact
19 guilty of first degree murder;
1 (2) defendants in death penalty cases are provided
2 adequate and experienced counsel and adequate resources for
3 the defense of their cases at the trial, appellate and post-
4 conviction stages;
5 (3) race does not play an impermissible role in
6 determining which defendants are sentenced to death; and
7 (4) death penalty cases are handled similarly by all
8 district attorneys throughout this Commonwealth.
9 (c) Membership.--The commission shall consist of six members
10 as follows:
11 (1) Two members appointed by the Supreme Court.
12 (2) One member appointed by the President pro tempore of
13 the Senate.
14 (3) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
15 Senate.
16 (4) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
17 Representatives.
18 (5) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
19 House of Representatives.
20 (d) Report.--The commission shall report to the General
21 Assembly within eight months from the effective date of this
22 section.
23 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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