[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 379 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 379

To ensure equal protection and due process of law in capital punishment 
 cases by imposing a moratorium on the imposition and carrying out of 
                  the death penalty in certain States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 2005

  Mr. Fattah introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure equal protection and due process of law in capital punishment 
 cases by imposing a moratorium on the imposition and carrying out of 
                  the death penalty in certain States.

    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 ``Innocent Life Protection Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON IMPOSITION AND CARRYING OUT OF THE DEATH PENALTY 
              IN CERTAIN STATES.

    (a) In General.--Any State which had sentenced a person to death, 
if that person has been determined by subsequent judicial process to be 
innocent, shall suspend the imposition and carrying out of the death 
penalty for a period of at least 10 years, beginning on the date of 
that determination or the date of the enactment of this Act, whichever 
is later.
    (b) Precondition for Termination of Moratorium.--A State may not 
terminate the moratorium until the State has, upon application, 
received a written determination by the Attorney General that--
            (1) due process of law with respect to capital punishment 
        is observed within that State;
            (2) the State has established a broadly representative 
        judicial review board that has examined all death penalty cases 
        which are subject to the moratorium and determined they are 
        free of due process violations;
            (3) during the last 10 years of the moratorium, there has 
        been no reversal on appeal by a defendant from a capital 
        sentence;
            (4) the State pursues capital punishment cases without 
        racial bias; and
            (5) the State meets the standards developed by the American 
        Bar Association for appointment, performance and compensation 
        of counsel for indigent persons.
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