ITHACA, N.Y. -- Has a 1991 Supreme Court ruling led to more prejudiced verdicts in capital cases and more defendants on death row?

Statements about a victim's virtues have become a common feature of capital trials in the United States since Payne vs. Tennessee , when the nation's highest court ruled that victim impact statements (VIS) in death penalty cases were admissible in court. Scholars have argued about the effects of such statements on jurors' verdicts. Now, that controversial subject will be discussed at length at a day-long symposium at Cornell University Law School March 2. Also addressed will be the supposition that executions bring relief to the families of victims.

"Victims and the Death Penalty: Inside and Outside the Courtroom" will take place this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m in the MacDonald Moot Court Room on the third floor of the Law School's Myron Taylor Hall on Cornell's campus. The event is free and open to the public. Attorneys can receive New York state continuing legal education credit for attending.

"If jurors think a victim is admirable, how does that influence their thinking," asks Cornell Law Professor Stephen Garvey, who together with Cornell Professors Theodore Eisenberg (law) and Martin Wells (statistics), will present a paper responding to that question.

In addition to Garvey, Eisenberg and Wells, participants include Cornell Law School Professors Barbara Holden-Smith and Sheri Lynn Johnson and Visiting Professor John Blume. Blume and Johnson are co-directors of the Law School's Death Penalty Project, a sponsor of the event, along with Cornell Law Review .

In the morning, researchers from law schools across the country, and others, will discuss empirical studies of VIS. Renny Cushing, executive director of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, will speak at lunch. In the afternoon, Blume will speak on the overall effect of the Payne decision, followed by a roundtable discussion among law practitioners and scholars. No registration is required for the event. For information, call Sue Pado, 255-3387?

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