That's the title of an AP report by Steve LeBlanc.
As Massachusetts governor, Republican Mitt Romney set himself a daunting challenge: craft a death penalty law that virtually guaranteed only the guilty could be executed, then push it through an overwhelmingly Democratic state Legislature that was leery of capital punishment.
Making the task even more difficult, the push by Romney — who is now running for president — came in 2005 at a time of growing national skepticism about the death penalty. Just two years earlier, Illinois Gov. George Ryan had cleared his state's death row after the death sentences of several inmates had been overturned.
Romney decided to tackle that skepticism by coming up with what he said would be a "gold standard for the death penalty in the modern scientific age."
In trying to set a new and higher bar, Romney also was chasing two political goals.
The first was to fulfill a promise, made during his 2002 run for governor, to try to reinstate the death penalty in Massachusetts, then one of a dozen states that had banned the punishment. The second was to burnish his conservative resume as he looked ahead to 2008 and his first run for president.
"We believe that the capital punishment bill that we put forward is not only right for Massachusetts, but it's a model for the nation," Romney said at the time, in comments similar to what he said about his overhaul of the state health insurance system. That law became a blueprint for the sweeping federal health care overhaul enacted by President Barack Obama, which has become an issue in the White House race.
Romney's handling of the death penalty issue opened a window into the type of management style he could bring to the White House if elected. He hand-picked a commission and outlined his goals in broad terms. Then he turned the panel's recommendations into a bill that ultimately failed to get through the Legislature. But his decision to fight an uphill battle on an issue that had begun to lose its urgency also showed Romney wasn't afraid of a political fight.
And:
Others saw political motives in Romney's efforts.
"There was no way the Massachusetts Legislature was going to pass a death penalty bill," state Rep. David Linsky, a Democrat who opposed Romney's bill and had helped investigate or prosecute about 25 murder cases as an assistant district attorney, said in an interview. "It was all about setting up his future conservative credentials outside Massachusetts."
Others, including many Republican and moderate Democrats backed the measure, however. But the bill was defeated on a 99-to-53 vote in the House after more than four hours of impassioned debate.
The Associated Press also distributed a sidebar, "Highlights of Romney's death penalty bill in Mass."
Highlights of the death penalty bill Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney filed as Massachusetts governor in 2005. The bill would have:
— Limited capital punishment to people convicted of terrorism, multiple murders, killing law enforcement officers and murder involving torture.
— Required conclusive scientific evidence, such as DNA, linking the suspect to the crime scene.
— Mandated a scientific review of the physical evidence before an execution was carried out.
— Established a "no doubt" standard which meant that even after a guilty verdict was rendered, the death penalty could not be imposed if any juror harbored the slightest doubt about the defendant's guilt.
— Required two trials, one to determine guilt and the second to decide whether to impose the death penalty.
— Required an automatic review by the Supreme Judicial Court.
— Barred the execution of anyone who was younger than 18 at the time of the crime.
— Required the creation of a list of "capital case qualified" defense attorneys to represent any defendant facing the death penalty.
— Created a commission to review complaints and investigate errors.
Related posts are in the politics and state legislation indexes.
Of the 34 states with capital punishment, Maryland currently has the most restrictive law in terms of prosecuting a death penalty case. No new death sentences have been issued since the state revised its law in 2009. Maryland prosecutors have sought the death penalty twice since the law changed, but both cases resulted in life sentences. Earlier coverage of Maryland capital punishment issues begins at the link.
Coverage of the 2009 Maryland General Assembly's consideration of repeal legislation and eventual compromise law with strict standards for capital prosecutions begins with the post, "The Maryland Legislation."
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