Arlen Specter: “The legislation further addresses the issue of adequacy of counsel. I will now describe the specific provisions of the…”

“The legislation further addresses the issue of adequacy of counsel. I will now describe the specific provisions of the bill I am offering today, and the cases and history that shows the manifest need for such legislation. The bill contains three titles. The first Title will ensure that defendants facing the death penalty will not be executed while the Supreme Court considers their petitions for certiorari or their cases on the merits. The second Title will ensure that both federal and state defendants have a meaningful opportunity to present DNA evidence in their defense. Finally, the third Title will establish minimal standards for defense counsel representing defendants in death penalty cases in state court. I am additionally introducing these three Titles as three separate bills, as I will explain later. The first is 'Title I: Right to Review of the Death Penalty While a Case is Pending Before the Supreme Court.' There have been death penalty cases where, despite the fact that the Supreme Court was either considering to grant certiorari or had actually granted certiorari and the case was pending, the Court did not issue a stay of execution in the interim.”