BRIEF: ABA Calls for Nationwide Halt of Executions

WASHINGTON D.C., United States - The American Bar Association (ABA) released a report on October 29, 2007 that called for a nationwide freeze on executions.  The ABA cited problems in capital punishment that may "compromise the fairness and accuracy" death penalty cases.  Within the report, the ABA highlights inconsistent collection and preservation of DNA, misidentification of eyewitnesses, false confessions and glaring racial disparity as unaddressed flaws in the death penalty system.  The ABA takes no official stance on the legality of the death penalty and has distinguished its report from the challenges to the lethal injection process.  The ABA report's main focus is on the "irregularity" between state implementation.

For more information, please see:

CNN - ABA: Freeze Executions Nationwide - 29 October 2007

Impunity Watch - Supreme Court To Hear Case on the Constitutionality of Lethal Injection - 25 September 2007