Washington Post: Kenneth Starr Pro Bono defense lawyer

"A compassionate and decent society has to ensure that a death penalty regime is as error-free as humanly possible and as fair as humanly possible.", Starr said in an interview. For Lovitt, he said, the system has failed that test. Moreover, he said: "He is maintaining his innocence, and as his counsel, I am maintaining his innocence."

"Few people as poor as Lovitt have such luminaries as Starr as their attorneys, particularly on death row." Donna St. George of the Washington Post writes. "Among the roughly 3,400 people who await execution in 38 states, most have little or no funding for private lawyers. Some have no legal counsel"

'"We just can't find enough lawyers for everyone who needs them," said Robin Maher, director of the Death Penalty Representation Project of the American Bar Association, who said hundreds of death row inmates need attorneys." "Many of these defendants have never had a persuasive, effective, zealous advocate before," she said. Volunteer lawyers, she added, frequently turn up new evidence and "have had successes that include exonerations and new trials."'