Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman's amendment should be accepted by the House, it would in effect make the present bill that calls for instructions to the jury to carry a certain essence with them, would make those provisions unconstitutional. We have to recall that in the crime bill that is now the law of the land the flawed language, which we consider to be flawed, calling for instructions to the jury that no matter what the aggravating circumstances and mitigating circumstances might be, no matter what weight is placed on them allowing the jury to find life or the sentence of death is clearly unconstitutional. What we do is implant language into the bill which makes it mandatory to find the death penalty, if a jury, in the second hearing, in the bifurcated hearing, determines that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances. That conforms with many of the States who have crafted death penalties of their own with respect to the jury instructions, and the Supreme Court has blessed the language of at least 15 States who have similar mandatory language, finding that the aggravating circumstances outweighing the mitigating circumstances requires a death penalty.”