WHO DECIDES WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE?


 There are many decision makers who determine the PACE. Some are obvious, others not. But all of these players in the political process help to determine who will be sent to their death.
 Law enforcement personnel. from the arresting officer to the highest ranking official, both influence and reflect the attitude of a segment of the community in making decisions about the PACE.
 Witnesses, together with the reliability and certainty of the government's evidence. have a significant impact in death sentencing determinations. There is great hesitation in both seeking the death sentence and determining that a death sentence is appropriate if guilt is not certain beyond any doubt.
 The victim's family has enormous initial impact in determining if the accused should become eligible for the PACE universe. The victim's status in society, the strength of the family's desire for retribution, the victim's demographic profile, and many other victim and family related variables help to qualify an accused for death sentencing.
 Prosecutors play a self-evident role in who comprises the PACE universe. Similarly, judges on both the trial level and in post-conviction proceedings, have great impact in defining the PACE universe.
 The jury plays an obvious role in determining the sentence, however, the jury role in establishing the PACE universe has changed little between the pre-Furman era and the post-Furman era. The bifurcated nature of the post-Furman proceedings and its emphasis on producing mitigating circumstances has been little more than a cosmetic change for death penalty litigation. The changes in the statutes and procedures have done nothing to fairly identify the "pure mean" and vicious people who "deserve" to be executed. The changes of statutes and procedures have not injected any rationality into the death penalty process.      
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