I just received this by e-mail and thought it would be of interest:

The Common Sense Foundation today released a ground-breaking study of North Carolina's death row population, titled "Death Row Injustices." Working with Indigent Defense Services and lawyers who represented clients in capital cases prior to the creation of IDS in 2001, Common Sense found that at least 37 people currently on death row did not have counsel that would meet today's standards for capital representation.

Moreover, of those who have been executed since 1976 (when the United States Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment), North Carolina has executed at least 16 people who did not have lawyers with those minimum qualifications necessary today.

The study calls for (1) immediate new trials for the 37 death row inmates identified; (2) a full investigation by the General Assembly to determine how many other death row inmates did not have qualified lawyers; and (3) a two-year moratorium on executions during which time an extensive review of capital punishment in our state should be conducted.

You can read the full report here.