- NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal
trial judge on Monday became the first U.S. judge to declare the current
federal death penalty unconstitutional, a ruling that is sure to set off
fierce national debate over the issue.
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- U.S. District Judge Rakoff said the federal death penalty
act "deprives innocent people of a significant opportunity to prove
their innocence" and "creates an undue risk of executing innocent
people," thereby violating due process.
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- Legal scholars believe he is the first judge to declare
the current federal death penalty law unconstitutional since it was enacted
in 1994.
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- The ruling is expected to be appealed, but if it is upheld
by the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, it could stop federal executions
in New York, Connecticut and Vermont.
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- It would have no effect on cases in state courts in the
38 states that have capital punishment.
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- The judge, who sits in Manhattan federal court, cited
academic research on death row inmates who had been wrongfully convicted
when he issued a preliminary finding on April 25 that federal executions
are unconstitutional.
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