At the October meeting of its general assembly, the World Medical Association, an international organization representing physicians, reaffirmed its 1981 resolution that it is unethical for physicians to take part in capital punishment. Criminal justice and capital punishment in Texas examined by the state bar, a National Public Radio documentary, and the Texas Civil Rights Project. State Bar of Texas committee releases report decrying state of indigent criminal defense in Texas. The committee has also conducted surveys of prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges on the status of indigent defense in Texas. Narrated photo galleries accompany the documentary.
Report calls for execution moratorium in Texas.
Panel addresses wrongful convictions and executions. New studies and opinion polls reveal serious deficiencies in America's death penalty system. A just-released survey by the U.S. Department of Justice shows that disparities of race and geographic location of the crime affect the federal death penalty system. In addition, a study by Harvard economist Edward Glaeser and Dartmouth economist Bruce Sacerdote shows that sentencing for murderers varies widely based on the race and sex of the victim. A new poll by the Justice Project, as well as several other polls by news organizations around the country , highlight Americans' growing concern that the death penalty system is making irrevocable mistakes.