ACLU Capital Punishment Project

Jury selection in death penalty cases is heavily skewed in favor of the prosecution.  As a result, jurors in capital cases tend to be more willing than the public at large to sentence defendants to death. The process of "death qualification," whereby prosecutors and judges can exclude prospective jurors who may have reservations about the death penalty, makes juries more likely to view the defendant as guilty, suggests to juries that the attorneys and judge believe the defendant is guilty, and leads to a higher rate of imposition of the death penalty.  

Through advocacy and public education in several states, Wyatt Feeler seeks to bring a measure of fairness to the jury selection process and thereby reduce the number of death sentences. Specifically, Feeler will build upon the efforts of other capital defense advocates to "life qualify" jurors-a jury selection strategy that involves identifying and excluding jurors who are unable to weigh mitigation and consider a life sentence.

Feeler is presently clerking for the Honorable Ellen Bree Burns of the Federal District of Connecticut.  He received a BA in philosophy and religion as valedictorian from Truman State University and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2008.  During law school, Feeler was a senior articles editor for the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal and interned at the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition and the Appellate Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.  He also represented clients in criminal proceedings and parole revocation hearings with the Georgetown Criminal Justice Clinic and spent a summer at the Georgia Capital Defender.

Durham, NC