Capital Litigation Training

The purpose of the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) is to provide high-quality training and technical assistance on death penalty issues to judges and attorneys who litigate death penalty cases. This program focuses on ensuring quality representation and reliable jury verdicts. The goals of CCLI are to increase the number of capital litigation attorneys trained in death penalty cases, and to ensure that defense counsel, prosecutors, and judges have the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available to them on death penalty litigation.

The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement is applying for 2007 CCLI funds on behalf of the Judicial Administrator's Office (JAO) of the Louisiana Supreme Court. The objectives of the project are: to provide intensive training and technical assistance on death penalty issues to judges who litigate death penalty cases; and to institutionalize such training. The JAO plans to work with the Louisiana Judges Association and the Louisiana Judicial College to host a series of three Capital Litigation seminars to train Louisiana judges over a period of eighteen months. Participants in the two-day seminars will be general jurisdiction trial court judges who preside over capital cases, Court of Appeal Judges who have supervisory review, and Louisiana Supreme Court Justices who have appellate review of all death penalty cases. Grant funds will be used to support the expenses of seminar speakers and the Judicial College, and the costs of Louisiana Capital Crimes Benchbooks, supplies and materials to be provided by the National Judicial College and other partners.

CA/NCF