Indiana report: Death penalty inconsistent

Concerns are being raised as some are urging Indiana leaders to take a closer look at death penalty processes within the state and calling now for a suspension of all executions. \nA report by an Indiana assessment team found that Indiana needs to call an “immediate moratorium” on all death penalties due to inconsistencies and failure of standards within the system, according to an IU press release. A report, completed with the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project also found that the state’s application of the death penalty is “seemingly random and highly inconsistent” and is only upholding “10 of the 93 death penalty protocols suggested by the ABA,” according to the release.\nAccording to the Clark County prosecuting attorney’s Web site, the death penalty in Indiana might only be used in murder cases. Murder is given “a fixed term of 45 to 65 years imprisonment, with at least an advisory sentence of 55 years, and up to a $10,000 fine,” according to Indiana code 35-50-2-3 of 2006 titled “Murder.” A death sentence, which is requested by the prosecuting attorney, can be issued if the person on trial is at least 18 years of age and is not found to be mentally retarded, according to the Web site. \nAccording to Indiana code 35-38-6-10, “If the inmate is pregnant, the execution will be suspended until no longer pregnant.”\nJoseph Hoffman, an IU Law School professor of a course on death penalty law, has participated in numerous studies considering death penalty procedures in nine states including Indiana and Illinois. Hoffman, for the most part, agrees with the recommendations of the ABA but warns Indiana to proceed with caution and understanding. \n“There are a few recommendations I don’t agree with, some that states have tried and have not worked,” Hoffman said of the ABA’s death penalty protocols. “The report is most important as a catalyst to get people thinking about the death penalty.” \nHoffman also warns that the members of ABA are mostly opponents of the death penalty, and that neutrality in this issue is hard to find. \n“Many people either don’t have a strong opinion or have a really strong opposition to the death penalty,” Hoffman said. “I think that it is important for people have an ax to grind on; people like me who don’t come at it with a political agenda.” \nHoffman agreed that students should be more aware of and form an opinion on the death penalty. \n“The death penalty is a kind of symbol of our criminal justice system,” Hoffman said. “Everyone in Indiana should care.”