"DOJ reopens public comment on fast-track death penalty habeas procedures," is Marcia Coyle's web-only report for National Law Journal, today.
After issuing a final rule in December on how states could opt into
fast-track death penalty habeas procedures in federal courts, the U.S.
Department of Justice has reopened a public comment period on the new
procedures.
Chapter 154 of Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 provides procedural benefits in federal habeas corpus review of capital cases to states that go beyond the constitutional requirement of appointing counsel for indigents at trial and on appeal by providing counsel also to capital defendants in state postconviction proceedings.
Before a 2005 amendment to Chapter 154, the determination that a state was eligible for the procedural benefits had been left to the federal court of appeals for the circuit in which a state was located. But no appellate court ever found that a state met the requirements for opting into the fast-track procedures. In 2005, Congress amendment Chapter 154 to assign responsibility for state certifications to the attorney general of the United States, subject to de novo review by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The Justice Department spent three years drafting regulations to implement the Chapter 154 procedures. The final rule, according to both supporters and opponents, was virtually unchanged from the proposed regulations issued for public comment in 2007.
The California Habeas Corpus Resource Center recently sought and won a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the final rule published in December. Habeas Corpus Res. Ctr.v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, No. C 08–2649 CW (N.D. Calif., Jan. 20, 2009).
Chapter 154 of Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 provides procedural benefits in federal habeas corpus review of capital cases to states that go beyond the constitutional requirement of appointing counsel for indigents at trial and on appeal by providing counsel also to capital defendants in state postconviction proceedings.
Before a 2005 amendment to Chapter 154, the determination that a state was eligible for the procedural benefits had been left to the federal court of appeals for the circuit in which a state was located. But no appellate court ever found that a state met the requirements for opting into the fast-track procedures. In 2005, Congress amendment Chapter 154 to assign responsibility for state certifications to the attorney general of the United States, subject to de novo review by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The Justice Department spent three years drafting regulations to implement the Chapter 154 procedures. The final rule, according to both supporters and opponents, was virtually unchanged from the proposed regulations issued for public comment in 2007.
The California Habeas Corpus Resource Center recently sought and won a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the final rule published in December. Habeas Corpus Res. Ctr.v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, No. C 08–2649 CW (N.D. Calif., Jan. 20, 2009).
The notice in the February 5th Federal Register is here. Comments are due April 6th.
StandDown's earlier coverage begins with this post.
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