PRINTER'S NO. 894
No. 741 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY FERLO, KITCHEN, C. WILLIAMS, FUMO, A. WILLIAMS,
HUGHES AND MELLOW, JUNE 9, 2005
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, JUNE 9, 2005
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.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
8 § 9711.1. Temporary suspension of death penalty.
9 (a) Suspension.--No execution of a defendant shall take
10 place for two years from the effective date of this section. A
11 commission on the death penalty shall be created to study the
12 law that provides for the death penalty and the administration
13 of the death penalty in this Commonwealth. The commission shall
14 make recommendations for amendments to the death penalty law to
15 provide assurances that:
16 (1) defendants who are sentenced to death are in fact
17 guilty of first degree murder;
18 (2) defendants in death penalty cases are provided
1 adequate and experienced counsel and adequate resources for
2 the defense of their cases at the trial, appellate and
3 postconviction stages;
4 (3) race does not play an impermissible role in
5 determining which defendants are sentenced to death; and
6 (4) death penalty cases are handled similarly by all
7 district attorneys throughout this Commonwealth.
8 (b) Report.--The commission shall report to the General
9 Assembly within eight months from the effective date of this
10 section.
11 (c) Membership.--The commission shall consist of six members
12 as follows:
13 (1) Two members appointed by the Supreme Court.
14 (2) One member appointed by the President pro tempore of
15 the Senate.
16 (3) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
17 Senate.
18 (4) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
19 Representatives.
20 (5) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
21 House of Representatives.
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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