ABA Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project

“In 2001, the ABA created the Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project to carry out the ABA’s goal of a nationwide moratorium unless and until problems within the administration of capital punishment are rectified. Through research, outreach, and education, the Moratorium Project encourages jurisdictions to undertake a comprehensive examination of their capital punishment laws and processes in order to eliminate identified flaws and to suspend executions while undergoing this process. The Moratorium Project serves as the ABA’s voice and resource on death penalty moratorium-related issues.”

“From 2003 to 2007, the Moratorium Project undertook its first series of assessments on the administration of capital punishment in eight U.S. states. The assessments give jurisdictions an objective instrument to evaluate the administration of the death penalty, based upon uniform benchmarks in varied aspects of capital punishment processes. The reports demonstrate why jurisdictions should undertake comprehensive studies of their death penalty systems and the range of topics that must be considered in any thorough assessment. Several State Assessment Reports have also recommended that the state undertake a moratorium on executions until the state appropriately addresses the recommendations contained within the Report. In each assessed capital jurisdiction, the actual practices of the capital jurisdiction is compared to a series of recommendations on the administration of the death penalty, based on the original ABA Protocols on the Administration of Capital Punishment (2001) and the revised version (2010).”

State Assessments:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Florida
• Georgia
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Missouri
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee