In 2006, the ABA completed one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the fairness and accuracy of the death penalty in Florida. On the three-year anniversary of the release of the report, join us for a lively, dynamic forum on the ABA’s findings and what, if anything, has changed in the administration of capital punishment in the state. We’ll examine a range of problems identified in the ABA report, including ineffective defense counsel, prosecutorial issues, juror confusion and Florida’s majority jury requirements, clemency, and wrongful conviction. Participants will also discuss the cost of pursuing the death penalty, the propriety of alternatives to capital punishment in murder cases, and will answer your questions on Florida’s death penalty.
12-1pm
Report Card on Florida’s Death Penalty:
Findings and Recommendations of the ABA’s Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team & Perspectives from a former Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections.
Moderator: Chris Slobogin, Assessment Team Chair & Professor, Vanderbilt School of Law
Panelists: Hon. O.H. Eaton, Circuit Judge, 18th Judicial Circuit; Hon. Lynn Tepper, Circuit Judge, 6th Judicial Circuit; Mark Schlakman, Clemency Counsel to Gov. Lawton M. Chiles, Jr.; and Harry K. Singletary, Jr., former Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections who served on Gov. Crist's Commission on Administration of Lethal Injection.
1-2pm
Equal Justice Under Law?
The inadequacy of counsel assigned to represent Florida’s capital defendants and death row inmates and the effect of prosecutorial decision making on capital cases.
Moderator: Mark Olive, Defense Attorney and Petitioner in Olive v. Maas I-III
Panelists: Michael Minerva, Public Defender, 2nd Judicial Circuit (Ret.) & fmr. Dir., statewide Office of the Capital Collateral Representative; Stephen Hanlon, Senior Partner, Holland & Knight, and Principal Attorney in Olive v. Maas I-III; and Harry Shorstein, Fmr. State Attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit.
2-3pm
The Way Forward – Are the Costs of Capital Punishment Justifiable?
The human and financial costs of the death penalty; the benefits and costs of alternatives to capital punishment.
Moderator: Sandy D’Alemberte¸ Fmr. ABA President & President Emeritus of Florida State University
Panelists: Juan Melendez, Exonerated after spending 17 years on Florida’s death row; Seth Miller, Executive Director, Innocence Project of Florida; David Rasmussen, Dean, Florida State University College of Social Sciences and Public Policy; and Ashley Nellis, Research Analyst, The Sentencing Project; Janet Ferris, Circuit Judge (Ret.), 2nd Judicial Circuit.