Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ATLANTA (AP) — A group of religious leaders, human rights activists and others are planning to call for Georgia lawmakers to end capital punishment in the state.
Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is planning to gather in the state Capitol rotunda March 11. Director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, Eric Jacobson, is one of the scheduled speakers.
Organizers said in a release that part of their call to action involves pushing lawmakers to reconsider parameters for the burden of proof for proving a defendant's intellectual disability.
Georgia was the first state to pass laws prohibiting executing mentally disabled inmates, but requires that a defendant's intellectual disability be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court. Georgia's burden of proof is the strictest in the nation.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
