INNOCENCE PROTECTION ACT OF 2000

SECTION-BY-SECTION SUMMARY

OVERVIEW

The Innocence Protection Act of 2000 is a comprehensive package of criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing the risk that innocent persons may be executed. Most urgently, the bill would (1) ensure that convicted offenders are afforded an opportunity to prove their innocence through DNA testing; (2) help States to provide competent legal services at every stage of a death penalty prosecution; (3) enable those who can prove their innocence to recover some measure of compensation for their unjust incarceration; and (4) provide the public with more reliable and detailed information regarding the administration of the nations capital punishment laws.

TITLE I - EXONERATING THE INNOCENT THROUGH FEDERAL POST-CONVICTION REVIEW

Sec. 101.  Findings and purposes. Legislative findings and purposes in support of this title.

Sec. 102.  DNA testing in Federal criminal justice system.  Establishes rules and procedures governing applications for DNA testing by convicted offenders in the Federal system. An applicant must allege that evidence to be tested (1) is related to the investigation or prosecution that resulted in the applicants conviction; (2) is in the governments actual or constructive possession; and (3) was not previously subjected to DNA testing, or to the form of DNA testing now requested. The court may, in its discretion, appoint counsel for an indigent applicant.

Because access to DNA testing is of no value unless evidence containing DNA has been preserved, this section also prohibits the government from destroying any biological material in a criminal case while any person remains incarcerated in connection with that case, unless such person is notified of the governments intent to destroy the material, and afforded at least 90 days to request DNA testing under this title.

Sec. 103.  DNA testing in State criminal justice system. Conditions receipt of Federal grants for DNA-related programs on an assurance that the State will adopt adequate procedures for preserving biological material and making DNA testing available to its inmates.

Sec. 104.  Prohibition pursuant to section 5 of the 14^th amendment. Prohibits States from (1) denying requests for DNA testing that could produce new exculpatory evidence, or (2) denying inmates a meaningful opportunity to prove their innocence using the results of DNA testing. Creates an authority to sue for declaratory or injunctive relief to enforce these prohibitions.

Sec. 105.  Severability. Provides that if any provision of this title or any amendment made by this title is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions and amendments shall not be affected.

TITLE II — ENSURING COMPETENT LEGAL SERVICES IN CAPITAL CASES

Sec. 201. Amendments to Byrne grant programs. Conditions Federal funding under the Byrne grant programs -- when such funding equals or exceeds an amount that is $50 million greater than the amount appropriated for such programs in FY2000 -- on certification that the State has established and maintains an Aeffective system@ for providing competent legal services to indigent defendants at every stage of a death penalty prosecution, from pre-trial proceedings through post-conviction review. The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts is charged with specifying the elements of an Aeffective system,@ which must include a centralized and independent authority for appointing attorneys in capital cases, and adequate compensation and reimbursement of such attorneys.

Sec. 202.  Effect on procedural default rules. Provides that certain procedural barriers to Federal habeas corpus review shall not apply if the State failed to provide the petitioner with adequate legal services.

Sec. 203.  Capital representation grants. Amends the Criminal Justice Act, 18 U.S.C. 3006A, to make more Federal funding available to public agencies and private non-profit organizations for purposes of enhancing the availability and competence of counsel in capital cases, encouraging the continuity of representation in such cases, decreasing the cost of providing qualified death penalty counsel, and increasing the efficiency with which capital cases are resolved.

TITLE III - COMPENSATING THE UNJUSTLY CONDEMNED

Sec. 301.  Increased compensation in Federal cases. Raises the total amount of damages that may be awarded against the United States in cases of unjust imprisonment from $5,000 to $50,000 a year in a non-death penalty case, or $100,000 a year in a death penalty case. Identifies factors for court to consider in assessing damages.

Sec. 302.  Compensation in State death cases. Encourages States to permit any person who was unjustly convicted and sentenced to death to be awarded reasonable damages, upon substantial proof of innocence and formal exoneration, by adding a new condition for Federal funding to assist in construction of correctional facility projects.

TITLE IV - MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 401.  Accommodation of State interests in Federal death-penalty prosecutions. Protects the interests of States (including the District of Columbia and any commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States) by limiting the Federal government=s authority to seek the death penalty in States that do not permit the imposition of such penalty. Department of Justice guidelines provide that in cases of concurrent jurisdiction, Aa Federal indictment for an offense subject to the death penalty will be obtained only when the Federal interest in the prosecution is more substantial than the interests of the State or local authorities.@ Section 401 builds on that principle by requiring the Attorney General or her designee to certify that (1) the State does not have jurisdiction or refuses to assume jurisdiction over the defendant; (2) the State has requested that the Federal government assume jurisdiction; or (3) the offense charged involves genocide; terrorism; use of chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction; destruction of aircraft, trains, or other instrumentalities or facilities of interstate commerce; hostage taking; torture; espionage; treason; the killing of certain high public officials; or murder by a Federal prisoner.

Sec. 402.  Alternative of life imprisonment without possibility of release. Provides juries in Federal death penalty prosecutions brought under the drug kingpin statute, 21 U.S.C. '848(l), the option of recommending life imprisonment without possibility of release. This amendment brings the drug kingpin statute into conformity with the more recently-enacted death penalty procedures in title 18, which govern most Federal death penalty prosecutions. See 18 U.S.C. '3594.

Sec. 403.  Right to an informed jury. Conditions Federal truth-in-sentencing grants upon certification that, in any capital case in which the jury has a role in determining the defendant=s sentence, the defendant has the right to have the jury informed of all statutorily-authorized sentencing options in the particular case, including applicable parole eligibility rules and terms. The purpose is to give full effect to the due process principles underlying the Supreme Court=s decision in Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994), which held that a defendant who has been convicted of a capital offense is entitled to an instruction informing the sentencing jury that he is ineligible for parole under State law.

Sec. 404.  Annual reports. Directs the Justice Department to prepare an annual report regarding the administration of the nation=s capital punishment laws. The report must be submitted to Congress, distributed to the press and posted on the Internet.

Sec. 405.  Discretionary appellate review. Respects State procedural rules by allowing Federal habeas corpus petitioners to raise claims that State courts discouraged them from raising when seeking discretionary review in the State=s highest court. Responds to the Supreme Court=s decision in O=Sullivan v. Boerckel, 119 S. Ct. 1728 (1999), which held that a State prisoner must present his claims to a State supreme court in a petition for discretionary review in order to satisfy the exhaustion requirement of 28 U.S.C. '2254(b)(1), (c).

Sec. 406.  Sense of the Senate regarding the execution of juvenile offenders and the mentally retarded. Expresses the sense of the Senate that the death penalty is disproportionate and offends contemporary standards of decency when applied to juvenile offenders and the mentally retarded.