Prosecutorial discretion and the death penalty in Missouri

Prosecutorial discretion and the death penalty in Missouri

Saint Louis University and Washington University School of Law are co-sponsoring an event entitled “Life and Death Decisions: Prosecutorial Discretion and Capital Punishment in Missouri.” The conference takes place on Friday, March 2, 2007, and this webpage provides more details (including a schedule and participant list).

As this overview details, at the conference “scholars will present the results of a study of 1044 homicide cases in Missouri,” which shows that local prosecutors “made the majority of [capital sentencing] decisions in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.” The data from the study “suggest that there are significant disparities across counties in the ways that prosecutors exercise their discretion” and the conference is designed to “examine the data and consider policy options for promoting greater consistency across counties in the implementation of capital punishment.”

Thanks to Doug Berman for the links & Doug will be participating in what is sure to be an exciting event.