Today death penalty lawyers are a rare though increasingly much-needed breed. In the incidence of capital cases, the U. S. Supreme Court has recognized what research has long shown: Jurors often make sentencing decisions prematurely, and they often base their decisions on their personal reactions to the defendant, .their confusion about the rules of law,and their lack of understanding regarding their own role and responsibilities In an effort to safeguard against jurors unguided emotional responses when determining punishment for capital defendants, the Court set forth a legal standard that requires defense teams in capital cases to conduct thorough investigations into the defendants backgrounds. If the defendant is found guilty, the information derived from that investigation must then be presented as mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of the trial.

The capital mitigation process comes to life when a Legal Defense teams’s social worker, using a life history model of investigation, assumes the role of mitigation specialist, AND by capitalizing on social work theory and research, practice knowledge and skills yields vital information that, through objective presentation of fact…..guides sentencing . The gold standard for mitigation practice is reliance on focused investigation and presentation of evidence about a defendants life and character that is sufficient to compel jurors to consider a complexity of personal, social, and ecological issues in deciding attribution of responsibility that mitigate defendants legal accountability in capital offenses. The established mitigation strategy that relies on social histories and life-stories survives and thrives as a legal mandate and preferred approach in capital cases.