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22 Nev. L.J. 1005 (2021-2022)
No Path Forward: Nevada's Death Penalty

handle is hein.journals/nevlj22 and id is 1017 raw text is: 


22 NEV. L.J. 1005


  No PATH FORWARD: NEVADA'S DEATH

                             PENALTY


                     By   Randolph M. Fiedler*

                            TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1005
    I. FURMAN,  GREGG, AND  NEVADA:   GUIDED  JURY DISCRETION........... 1008
       A.  Nevada's Death  Penalty Before Furman................................... 1009
       B.  Furman  and Nevada's Failed Death Penalty............................ 1011
       C.  Gregg  and the End of the Supreme Court's Moratorium.......... 1012
       D.  Nevada's  Narrowed  Death Penalty...................................... 1014
   II. THE DECLINE  OF NARROWING   AND  THE RISE OF PROSECUTORIAL
       DISCRETION...................................................................................... 1015
       A.  The Supreme  Court's Retreat from Regulating Aggravating
           Circumstances........................................................................... 1016
       B.  Nevada's Expanding  Aggravating  Circumstances.................... 1019
       C.  The Rise of Prosecutorial Discretion........................................ 1022
CONCLUSION................................................................................................ 1024



                              INTRODUCTION

    In 2021, Nevada did not abolish the death penalty. This was not for lack of
interest. The policing protests of 2020 brought renewed interest in ending sym-
bols of racism and reforming criminal justice; the pandemic-related budget cri-
sis meant legislators were looking for ways to cut costs.' Abolishing the death
penalty-an  expensive punishment  that historically and contemporarily reflect-

* Randolph M. Fiedler is a public defender in Las Vegas, representing death row inmates in
their state and federal post-conviction proceedings. He is also Vice President of the Nevada
Coalition Against the Death Penalty and a past president of Nevada Attorneys for Criminal
Justice. The views expressed here are solely mine. I wish to thank Brittany Paloma Fiedler
for her helpful feedback on this article and life; I also wish to thank the following individuals
for sharing their thoughts on early drafts of this article: Ryan Aikin, David Anthony, Mark
Bettencourt, Scott Coffee, and Stacy Newman. Finally, I want to thank the editors at the Ne-
vada Law Journal for their time and assistance on this article.
1 See, e.g., Michelle Rindels, Death Penalty, Use of Force and Bail: The Top Criminal Jus-
tice Reform Issues on Tap in the Legislature, NEv. INDEP. (Feb. 7, 2021, 2:00 AM),
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/death-penalty-police-use-of-force-and-bail-the-top-
criminal-justice-reform-issues-on-tap-in-the-legislature [https://perma.cc/F9VQ-5Y7L].
                                   1005

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