Motion Title: NBLSA Moratorium Project
Author: Eddie L. Koen Jr.
Date: March 15, 2006
School: Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham, Alabama
WHEREAS, since 1976, the United States Supreme Court permitted states to reinstate capital punishment, 123 people in 25 states have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence or because other systemic failures prompted officials to conclude that, the death sentence was unwarranted.
WHEREAS, The most recent exoneration was granted on February 23, 2006 and 62 of 123 prisoners exonerated were black.
WHEREAS, A proactive way to properly examine and mend these practices requires removing the pressure of impending executions.
WHEREAS, The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA), while taking no moral position on capital punishment, urges the federal and state governments to enact a nationwide moratorium in order to asses the growing body of evidence showing that race, geography, wealth, and personal politics can be factors at every stage of capital cases.
RESOLVED. The NBLSA Moratorium Project is created to assist (1) The American Bar Association Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project (ABA), and (2) To encourage and assist associations, organizations, or movements to educate the public or advance the moratorium movement in their jurisdictions, and to encourage state government leaders to establish moratoriums and/or undertake detailed examinations of capital punishment laws and processes in their jurisdictions.
Be It Further RESOLVED. The NBLSA calls upon each jurisdiction that imposes capital punishment to implement a moratorium until the jurisdiction enacts policies and procedures that are consistent with the ABA policies which intend to (1) ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process, and (2) minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed:
Be It Further RESOLVED. The NBLSA strives to eliminate discrimination in capital sentencing on the basis of race of either the victim or the defendant.
