Evidence and Death

The Sunday NYT reports that Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is proposing a more exacting standard for forensic evidence -- but only in capital cases, where it may help to preserve the political palatability of the death penalty. Under the Governor's proposal, a death sentence could be imposed only if physical evidence of guilt met "the highest evidentiary standard." That standard remains undefined, so far, but presumably it would be more stringent than the middling evidentiary standards appropriate for forensic evidence in cases involving mere life sentences.