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H0542................................by JUDICIARY, RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
DEATH SENTENCE - Repeals and amends existing law to define terms; to
provide for contact visits between condemned persons and certain persons in
accordance with prison rules; to provide for the close custody confinement
of condemned persons; and to provide that a warden may house a condemned
person under more restrictive conditions under certain circumstances.
02/01 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/04 Rpt prt - to Jud
02/28 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/01 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
04/03 3rd rdg - PASSED - 54-14-2
AYES -- Aikele, Barraclough, Barrett, Bedke, Bell, Bieter, Black,
Block, Boe, Bolz, Bruneel, Campbell, Crow, Cuddy, Deal, Ellsworth,
Field(13), Field(20), Gagner, Gould, Hadley, Hammond, Henbest,
Higgins, Jaquet, Jones, Kellogg(Duncan), Kendell, Kunz, Langford,
Loertscher, Mader, Martinez, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery, Mortensen,
Moyle, Pischner, Pomeroy, Raybould, Ridinger, Robison, Sali, Sellman,
Shepherd, Smith(33), Smith(23), Smylie, Stevenson, Stone, Tilman,
Trail, Young
NAYS -- Bradford, Clark, Collins, Denney, Ellis, Eskridge, Harwood,
Hornbeck, Lake, Pearce, Roberts, Wheeler, Wood, Mr. Speaker
Absent and excused -- Callister, Schaefer
Floor Sponsor - Jaquet
Title apvd - to Senate
03/05 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Jud
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 542
BY JUDICIARY, RULES AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO CONFINEMENT UNDER DEATH SENTENCES AND DEATH WARRANTS; REPEALING
3 SECTION 19-2705, IDAHO CODE; AND AMENDING SECTION 19-2706, IDAHO CODE, TO
4 REDESIGNATE THE SECTION, TO PROVIDE REFERENCE TO DEATH SENTENCES, TO PRO-
5 VIDE THAT THE WARRANT SHALL BE DIRECTED TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE IDAHO
6 DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, TO PROVIDE THAT THE WARDEN OF THE PRISON IN
7 WHICH A PERSON IS INCARCERATED PURSUANT TO A DEATH WARRANT FOR WHICH EXE-
8 CUTION HAS NOT BEEN STAYED SHALL KEEP THE CONDEMNED PERSON IN SOLITARY
9 CONFINEMENT UNTIL EXECUTION, TO FURTHER DEFINE TERMS, TO PROVIDE FOR CON-
10 TACT VISITS BETWEEN CONDEMNED PERSONS AND CERTAIN PERSONS, TO PROVIDE THAT
11 ALL VISITS WITH CONDEMNED PERSONS SHALL TAKE PLACE ONLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH
12 PRISON RULES, TO PROVIDE THAT PRISON OFFICIALS MAY SUSPEND OR DENY VISITS
13 UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, TO PROVIDE THAT THE CONDEMNED PERSON MAY HAVE
14 CONTACT VISITS WITH CERTAIN PERSONS IN THE SEVEN DAYS IMMEDIATELY PRECED-
15 ING A SCHEDULED EXECUTION, TO PROVIDE THAT THE WARDEN IS NOT REQUIRED TO
16 HOLD A PERSON IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT OR OTHERWISE RESTRICT ACCESS TO SUCH
17 PERSON UNTIL THE STAY OF A DEATH WARRANT IS LIFTED OR A NEW DEATH WARRANT
18 IS ISSUED IF THE PERSON HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH BUT THE DEATH WARRANT
19 HAS BEEN STAYED, TO PROVIDE THAT NO CONDEMNED PERSON SHALL BE HOUSED IN
20 LESS THAN CLOSE CUSTODY CONFINEMENT, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE SECTION DOES
21 NOT LIMIT THE WARDEN'S DISCRETION TO HOUSE A CONDEMNED PERSON UNDER MORE
22 RESTRICTIVE CONDITIONS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
24 SECTION 1. That Section 19-2705, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
25 repealed.
26 SECTION 2. That Section 19-2706, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
27 amended to read as follows:
28 19-27065. DEATH SENTENCE OR DEATH WARRANT AND CONFINEMENT THEREUNDER --
29 ACCESS TO CONDEMNED PERSON. (1) Whenever a person is sentenced to death, the
30 judge passing sentence shall, in accordance with section 19-2719, Idaho Code,
31 sign and file a death warrant fixing a date of execution not more than thirty
32 (30) days thereafter.
33 (2) The warrant shall be directed to the warden director of the state
34 penitentiary Idaho department of correction and shall be delivered to him
35 forthwith.
36 (3) Whenever a person is under death warrant, execution of which has not
37 been stayed, the warden of the prison in which the person is incarcerated
38 shall keep the condemned person in solitary confinement until execution. No
39 person shall be allowed access to the condemned person except law enforcement
40 personnel investigating matters within the scope of their duties, the attorney
41 of record, attending physicians, a spiritual adviser of the condemned's choos-
42 ing, and members of the immediate family of the condemned, and then only in
2
1 accordance with prison rules. Persons under sentence of death will be allowed
2 contact visits with their attorneys of record. Such visits will take place
3 subject to prison rules. No other contact visits shall be permitted. Prison
4 officials have authority to suspend or deny visits when the safe, secure and
5 orderly operation of the facility or public safety could be compromised.
6 (4) For purposes of this section a "contact visit" is defined as a meet-
7 ing between a condemned person and the attorney of record another person dur-
8 ing which the parties are not separated by a screen or other partition which
9 prohibits physical contact. Contact visits with attorneys of record or agents
10 of the attorneys of record will take place in a private, confidential setting
11 where the prisoner and his attorney are in the same room.
12 (5) For the purposes of this section, "agents of the attorneys of record"
13 means employees of the attorneys of record including investigators,
14 paralegals, legal interns and mitigation specialists but does not include
15 retained experts or other independent contractors of the attorneys of record.
16 (6) For the purposes of this section, "legal intern" means a qualified
17 law student or recent law school graduate who, upon application and approval
18 by the Idaho state bar association, is granted a limited license to engage in
19 the practice of law.
20 (7) No person shall be allowed access to the condemned person under death
21 warrant except law enforcement personnel investigating matters within the
22 scope of their duties, the condemned person's attorneys of record, the agents
23 of the condemned person's attorneys of record, attending physicians, spiritual
24 advisers of the condemned person's choosing and approved visitors.
25 (8) Persons under death warrant shall be allowed contact visits with
26 their attorneys of record and the agents of the attorneys of record.
27 (9) Contact visits between the condemned person and persons other than
28 his attorneys of record and the agents of the attorneys of record may be
29 allowed at the discretion of prison officials.
30 (10) All visits, contact or noncontact, with a condemned person, whether
31 such person is under sentence of death or death warrant, shall take place only
32 in accordance with prison rules. Prison officials shall have the authority to
33 suspend or deny such visits when public safety or the safe, secure and orderly
34 operation of the prison could be compromised.
35 (11) In the seven (7) days immediately preceding the scheduled execution
36 of a condemned person, the condemned person may have contact visits with spir-
37 itual advisers of the condemned person's choosing and members of the condemned
38 person's family, in addition to the attorneys of record and the agents of the
39 attorneys of record.
40 (12) When a person has been sentenced to death, but the death warrant has
41 been stayed, the warden is not required to hold such person in solitary con-
42 finement or to restrict access to him until the stay of the death warrant is
43 lifted or a new death warrant is issued by the sentencing court; provided how-
44 ever, no condemned person shall be housed in less than close custody confine-
45 ment, and provided further that nothing in this section shall be construed to
46 limit the warden's discretion to house such person under conditions more
47 restrictive if necessary to ensure public safety or the safe, secure and
48 orderly operation of the facility.
49 (13) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a liberty inter-
50 est in the condemned person or to expand the right of access to courts under
51 state or federal law.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 11776
This bill will remove the statutory restrictions placed on the
Department of Corrections regarding the imposition of solitary
confinement and other conditions of confinement on death row. The
current law requires to the Department to hold death-sentenced
prisoners in solitary confinement and places severe restrictions on
who may visit such a prisoner and on the conditions of visitation.
These restrictions apply even if a court has stayed the execution
date and the statute has resulted in some prisoners being held in
solitary confinement for more than a decade. Removing these statutory
restrictions will give the Department the ability to better manage
the behavior of death-sentenced inmates by giving it the discretion
to grant and withdraw ordinary privileges afforded to other
high-security inmates, while still requiring the Department to
house such inmates in the highest security level.
FISCAL IMPACT
There could be some savings to the budget of the Department of
Corrections. There is no decrease in security.
Contact
Name: Rep. Wendy Jaquet
Phone: 332-1130
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 542