Download This PaperMitigation Matters
Tell the Client's Story: Mitigation in Criminal and Death Penalty Cases (Edward Monahan & James Clark, editors; American Bar Association), 2017, ISBN: 978-1-63425-914-9
34 Pages Posted: 28 Dec 2017 Last revised: 10 Jan 2018
Date Written: December 21, 2017
Abstract
Mitigation matters. It works. It literally saves lives every day, often in cases in which a death sentence seems a foregone conclusion. But mitigation matters — it works — only if the capital defense team is committed both to conducting a comprehensive investigation of the client’s life and to developing and integrating the results of the investigation into a compelling, credible narrative for life. This commitment to uncovering and telling the client’s true story must be complete and unwavering. When it is, life sentences follow. When it is not, undeserved death sentences are imposed.
Keywords: mitigation, death penalty
JEL Classification: K14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
