MEDIA ADVISORY June 5, 2001 CONTACT: David McCord, 271-2069, 993-4723 Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 DRAKE LAW PROFESSOR AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS REGARDING THE DEATH PENALTY, TIMOTHY McVEIGH Drake Law School professor David McCord, who teaches and writes about the death penalty, is available for interviews regarding the death penalty and the case of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who is seeking to delay his execution scheduled for Monday, June 11. Professor McCord teaches a course about the death penalty that explores the subject from a variety of perspectives, including historical, moral, constitutional, jurisprudential, criminological and practical. The class will meet this summer from July 16 through July 27. He also has written extensively about the death penalty. His most recent publication, "An Open Letter to Governor George Ryan Concerning How to Fix the Death Penalty System," appeared in the Winter 2001 issue of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal. In his letter, McCord praises Gov. Ryan for declaring a moratorium on executions in Illinois because "the death penalty system has demonstrably malfunctioned so often and so egregiously that it could be fairly termed 'broken.'" He then suggests major reforms in the death penalty system so that it meets these four goals: The death penalty should be reserved for the absolute worst murderer. The death penalty should be consistently and non-discriminatorily applied. Death penalty litigation should be scrupulously fair at the trial level The system should minimize – to the extent humanly possible, yet consistent with a fair degree of finality – the possibility of executing an innocent person. McCord mailed a copy of his open letter to Gov. Ryan approximately two weeks ago. He has not yet received a reply. Copies of the letter also were sent to governors of all the states that impose the death penalty. McCord's writings about the death penalty include: "State Death Sentencing for Felony Murder Accomplices Under the Enmund and Tison Standards," Arizona State Law Journal, 2000. "Is Death 'Different' for Harmless Error Analysis? Should It Be? An Analysis of United States and Louisiana Supreme Court Case Law," Louisiana Law Review, 1999. "Imagining a Retributivist Alternative to Capital Punishment," Florida Law Review, 1998. "Judging the Effectiveness of the Supreme Court's Death Penalty Jurisprudence According to the Court's Own Goals: Mild Success or Major Failure?" Florida State Law Review, 1997. Professor McCord holds a bachelor's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He began his career as an assistant attorney general specializing in white collar crime in the Arizona attorney general's office. He also was a litigator in private practice in Phoenix before joining the Drake Law School faculty in 1984. He received the Drake Law School's Outstanding Law Professor Award in 1989-90 and 1991-92. He recently was appointed to the board of the Iowa Immigration Legal Project.