New Rules For Death Penalty Attorneys

Eleven years ago, a state law was passed requiring that the Appeals Courts make sure that inmates on Death Row receive adequate representation during the appeals process. Recently, the Austin American-Statesman discovered that sub-par attorneys were still being allowed to represent Death Row clients.

According to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this morning:

"The newspaper [Austin American-Statesman] found examples of habeas lawyers who copied from previous appeals, regardless of the case's facts, or ignored important case details. In one case, a lawyer submitted a writ with sections copied verbatim from his client's letters from death row."

On Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals finally moved to rectify this situation. They adopted new rules that said a majority of the judges on the Court could remove an attorney from the Court's approved list of habeas attorneys. The attorney's could be removed for:

* Exhibiting Substandard proficiency
* Unprofessional or unethical behavior
* Being found to have provided poor representation in any criminal case

There is also a State Bar of Texas task force organized last month. They may well make recommendations for further action. Judge Cathy Cochran said, "We recognize the need to have at least somewhat more specific rules...to remove attorneys who are not fulfilling their obligation to their clients. We're only partway there. We are hoping the task force comes up with more specific recommendations. In the meantime, at least we have something in place."

I am glad the Court finally took some action. Whether a person agrees with the death penalty or not, I think we can all agree that Death Row inmates should have adequate representation. If the state of Texas is going to execute people, then they are obligated to make sure it is done fairly, and that the inmate has decent representation.

This is a good first step.