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A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995

Being the first statistical study of modern capital appeals in the U.S., this report shows that "judicial review takes so long precisely because American capital sentences are so persistently and systematically fraught with error that seriously undermines their reliability" (p. i). This statement is supported by the fact that the overall rate of prejudicial error in the U.S. capital punishment system is 68%. Report contents include: executive summary; summary of central findings; confirmation from a parallel study; implications of central findings; the capital review process; the study; the national capital punishment report card; state comparisons; and conclusion -- a broken system and the need for research into causes. Appendixes include: state capital punishment report cards; federal circuit court and regional capital punishment report cards; incomplete list of capital judgments reversed on state post-conviction or related types of review; examples of serious error warranting Federal Habeas Corpus relief; and tables and figures. Also included is the supplement entitled "Examples of Serious Error Warranting State Post-Conviction or Federal Habeas Corpus Relief; with Contact Information." Accession Number: 016178

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