Similarly, people who had faced capital prosecutions for crimes they committed as juveniles can now be sentenced, at worst, only to life terms.

Last week, legislators passed a measure calling for a bipartisan commission to examine the cost, fairness and effects of capital prosecutions.

The consultant wants to compare each death sentence with hundreds of murder cases across the state that could be the subject of a capital prosecution.

There they picked up tips on the arcana of capital prosecution, like investigating a defendant's background and selecting a "death-qualified" jury.

Coretta Williams said the family believed race was a factor in the capital prosecution.

In 16 of the last 17 federal capital prosecutions, Judge Wolf wrote, juries rejected the death penalty.

Until 2001, the policies said the absence of a local death penalty did not by itself justify a federal capital prosecution.

A successful capital prosecution can make a prosecutor feel powerful, popular and righteous all at the same time.

The Reagan administration, for instance, liked to prosecute pornography; the Clinton administration cared about guns; and the current administration has pushed for more capital prosecutions.

The Justice Department has been sketchy in explaining the standards Mr. Ashcroft uses when he insists on a capital prosecution.