[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2463 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2463

To institute a moratorium on the imposition of the death penalty at the 
   Federal and State level until a National Commission on the Death 
 Penalty studies its use and policies ensuring justice, fairness, and 
                      due process are implemented.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 26, 2000

Mr. Feingold (for himself and Mr. Levin) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To institute a moratorium on the imposition of the death penalty at the 
   Federal and State level until a National Commission on the Death 
 Penalty studies its use and policies ensuring justice, fairness, and 
                      due process are implemented.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Death Penalty Moratorium 
Act of 2000''.

                TITLE I--MORATORIUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY

SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Death sentences are disproportionately visited on the 
        poor:
                    (A) About 90 percent of people facing capital 
                charges cannot afford their own attorney.
                    (B) No State has met standards developed by the 
                American Bar Association (ABA) for appointment, 
                performance, and compensation of counsel for indigent 
                prisoners.
            (2) There is ample evidence that the death penalty is 
        applied disproportionately to members of certain racial and 
        ethnic groups:
                    (A) Although African-Americans constitute only 13 
                percent of the American population, since 1976 African-
                Americans account for 35 percent of those executed, 43 
                percent of those who wait on death row nationwide, and 
                67 percent of those who wait on death row in the 
                Federal system. Although only 50 percent of murder 
                victims are white, fully 84 percent of the victims in 
                death penalty cases were white.
                    (B) A study conducted by the House Judiciary 
                Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights in 1994 
                concluded that 89 percent of defendants selected for 
                capital prosecution under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 
                1988 have been either African-American or Hispanic 
                American.
                    (C) In 1990, the General Accounting Office reported 
                ``a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities 
                in charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death 
                penalty''.
            (3) Prisoner appeals have been severely curtailed, 
        increasing the risk of imprisonment and execution of innocent 
        people:
                    (A) In a series of rulings since 1976, the Supreme 
                Court has restricted the rights of death row prisoners 
                to appeal their convictions and death sentences in 
                Federal courts, even in cases where prisoners present 
                compelling evidence of innocence.
                    (B) In 1996, new legislation limited Federal court 
                review of death penalty appeals and severely curtailed 
                public funding of legal aid services for death row 
                prisoners.

SEC. 102. FEDERAL AND STATE DEATH PENALTY MORATORIUM.

    Neither the Federal Government nor any State shall carry out the 
death penalty until Congress considers the final findings and 
recommendations of the National Commission on the Death Penalty in the 
report submitted under section 202(c)(2) and enacts legislation 
repealing this section and implementing or rejecting the guidelines and 
procedures recommended by the Commission.

           TITLE II--NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE DEATH PENALTY

SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be known 
as the National Commission on the Death Penalty (in this title referred 
to as the ``Commission'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Appointment.--Members of the Commission shall be 
        appointed by the President in consultation with the Attorney 
        General and the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Committees 
        on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 
        Senate.
            (2) Composition.--The Commission shall be composed of 15 
        members, of whom--
                    (A) 3 members shall be Federal or State 
                prosecutors;
                    (B) 3 members shall be attorneys experienced in 
                capital defense;
                    (C) 2 members shall be current or former Federal or 
                State judges; and
                    (D) 2 members shall be current or former Federal or 
                State law enforcement officials; and
                    (E) 5 members shall be individuals from the public 
                or private sector who have knowledge or expertise, 
                whether by experience or training, in matters to be 
                studied by the Commission, which may include--
                            (i) officers or employees of the Federal 
                        Government or State or local governments;
                            (ii) members of academia, nonprofit 
                        organizations, the religious community, or 
                        industry; and
                            (iii) other interested individuals.
            (3) Balanced viewpoints.--In appointing the members of the 
        Commission, the President shall, to the maximum extent 
        practicable, ensure that the membership of the Commission is 
        fairly balanced with respect to the opinions of the members of 
        the Commission regarding support for or opposition to the use 
        of the death penalty.
            (4) Date.--The appointments of the initial members of the 
        Commission shall be made not later than 30 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Period of Appointment; Vacancies.--Members shall be appointed 
for the life of the Commission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not 
affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the 
original appointment.
    (d) Initial Meeting.--Not later than 30 days after all initial 
members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall 
hold its first meeting.
    (e) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the call of the 
Chairperson.
    (f) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Commission shall 
constitute a quorum for conducting business, but a lesser number of 
members may hold hearings.
    (g) Chair.--The President shall designate 1 member appointed under 
subsection (a) to serve as the Chair of the Commission.
    (h) Rules and Procedures.--The Commission shall adopt rules and 
procedures to govern its proceedings.

SEC. 202. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall conduct a thorough 
        study of all matters relating to the administration of the 
        death penalty to determine whether it comports with 
        constitutional principles and requirements of fairness, 
        justice, equality, and due process.
            (2) Matters studied.--The matters studied by the Commission 
        shall include the following:
                    (A) Racial disparities in capital charging, 
                prosecuting, and sentencing decisions.
                    (B) Disproportionality in capital charging, 
                prosecuting, and sentencing decisions based on 
                geographic location and income status of defendant or 
                any other factor resulting in such disproportionality.
                    (C) Adequacy of representation of capital 
                defendants, including consideration of the ABA 
                ``Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of 
                Counsel in Death Penalty Cases'' (adopted February 
                1989) and Association policies intended to encourage 
                competency of counsel in capital cases (adopted 
                February 1979, February 1988, February 1990, and August 
                1996).
                    (D) Whether innocent persons have been sentenced to 
                death and the reasons these wrongful convictions have 
                occurred.
                    (E) Whether the Federal government should seek the 
                death penalty in a State with no death penalty.
                    (F) Whether courts are adequately exercising 
                independent judgment on the merits of constitutional 
                claims in State post-conviction and Federal habeas 
                corpus proceedings.
                    (G) Whether mentally retarded persons and persons 
                who were under the age of 18 at the time of their 
                offenses should be sentenced to death after conviction 
                of death-eligible offenses.
                    (H) Procedures to ensure that persons sentenced to 
                death have access to forensic evidence and modern 
                testing of such evidence, including DNA testing, when 
                such testing could result in new evidence of innocence.
                    (I) Any other law or procedure to ensure that death 
                penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, 
                in accordance with the Constitution.
    (b) Guidelines and Procedures.--
            (1) In general.--Based on the study conducted pursuant to 
        subsection (a), the Commission shall establish guidelines and 
        procedures for the administration of the death penalty 
        consistent with paragraph (2).
            (2) Intent of guidelines and procedures.--The guidelines 
        and procedures required by this subsection shall--
                    (A) ensure that the death penalty cases are 
                administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with 
                due process;
                    (B) minimize the risk that innocent persons may be 
                executed; and
                    (C) ensure that the death penalty is not 
                administered in a racially discriminatory manner.
    (c) Report.--
            (1) Preliminary report.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 
        the President, the Attorney General, and the Congress a 
        preliminary report, which shall contain a preliminary statement 
        of findings and conclusions.
            (2) Final report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report to 
        the President, the Attorney General, and the Congress which 
        shall contain a detailed statement of the findings and 
        conclusions of the Commission, together with its 
        recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions 
        implementing the guidelines and procedures as it considers 
        appropriate.

SEC. 203. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Information From Federal and State Agencies.--The Commission 
may secure directly from any Federal or State department or agency such 
information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out the 
provisions of this title. Upon request of the Chairperson of the 
Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such 
information to the Commission.
    (b) Postal Services.--The Commission may use the United States 
mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other 
departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
    (c) Gifts.--The Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or 
donations of services or property.
    (d) Hearings.--The Commission or, at its direction, any 
subcommittee or member of the Commission, may, for the purpose of 
carrying out the provisions of this title--
            (1) hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and 
        places, take such testimony, receive such evidence, administer 
        such oaths; and
            (2) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and 
        testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, 
        records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, documents, tapes, 
        and materials as the Commission or such subcommittee or member 
        considers advisable.
    (e) Issuance and Enforcement of Subpoenas.--
            (1) Issuance.--Subpoenas issued pursuant to subsection (d) 
        shall bear the signature of the Chairperson of the Commission 
        and shall be served by any person or class of persons 
        designated by the Chairperson for that purpose.
            (2) Enforcement.--In the case of contumacy or failure to 
        obey a subpoena issued under subsection (d), the district court 
        of the United States for the judicial district in which the 
        subpoenaed person resides, is served, or may be found may issue 
        an order requiring such person to appear at any designated 
        place to testify or to produce documentary or other evidence. 
        Any failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by 
        the court as a contempt.
            (3) Testimony of persons in custody.--A court of the United 
        States within the jurisdiction in which testimony of a person 
        held in custody is sought by the Commission or within the 
        jurisdiction of which such person is held in custody, may, upon 
        application by the Attorney General, issue a writ of habeas 
        corpus ad testificandum requiring the custodian to produce such 
        person before the Commission, or before a member of the 
        Commission or a member of the staff of the Commission 
        designated by the Commission for such purpose.
    (f) Witness Allowances and Fees.--The provisions of section 1821 of 
title 28, United States Code, shall apply to witnesses requested or 
subpoenaed to appear at any hearing of the Commission. The per diem and 
mileage allowances for witnesses shall be paid from funds available to 
pay the expenses of the Commission.

SEC. 204. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

    (a) Compensation of Members.--Members of the Commission shall serve 
without compensation for their services to the Commission.
    (b) Travel Expenses.--The members of the Commission shall be 
allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at 
rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 
chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes 
or regular places of business in the performance of services for the 
Commission.
    (c) Staff.--
            (1) In general.--The Chairperson of the Commission may, 
        without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, 
        appoint and terminate an executive director and such other 
        additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the 
        Commission to perform its duties. The employment of an 
        executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the 
        Commission.
            (2) Compensation.--The Chairperson of the Commission may 
        fix the compensation of the executive director and other 
        personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 
        subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, 
        relating to classification of positions and General Schedule 
        pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the executive 
        director and other personnel may not exceed the rate payable 
        for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 
        such title.
    (d) Detail of Government Employees.--Any Federal Government 
employee may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and 
such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service 
status or privilege.
    (e) Procurement of Temporary and Intermittent Services.--The 
Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent 
services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates 
for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual 
rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule 
under section 5316 of such title.

SEC. 205. TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.

    The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the 
Commission submits its report under section 202.

SEC. 206. FUNDING.

    (a) In General.--The Commission may expend not to exceed $850,000 
as provided by subsection (b) to carry out this title.
    (b) Availability.--Sums appropriated to the Department of Justice 
shall be made available to carry out this title.
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