Eric's Law

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight Eric's Law, a piece of legislation I introduced with my Pennsylvanian colleague, Congressman Matt Cartwright.

Eric's Law is named for Eric Williams, a Federal correctional officer who was brutally murdered by an inmate at U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. His murderer's crime largely went unpunished, even though 11 out of 12 jurors voted for the death penalty because he was already serving a life sentence.

Current law requires a unanimous decision by the jury to impose the death penalty.

Our legislation permits prosecutors to impanel a second jury for sentencing if the first jury in a Federal death penalty case fails to reach a unanimous decision on a sentence. This allows for a final, definitive decision in death penalty cases that our victims and families deserve.

I thank Eric's father, Don, as well as the Council of Prison Locals for their support and endorsement of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, we must do everything in our power to prevent this kind of tragedy from reoccurring. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source