Right now the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties is holding a hearing to, "Consider the Impact of Federal Habeas Corpus Limitations on Death Penalty Appeals." Unfortunately, it's not being webcast. The Subcommittee is chaired by Jerrold Nadler of New York.
The Witnesses are:
Stephen F. Hanlon
Partner, Holland and Knight, LLP
Washington, DC
Hon. Gerald Kogan
Chief Justice (Retired), Florida Supreme Court
Co-Chair, Constitution Project Death Penalty Committee
Miami, FL
Michael E. O'Hare
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney, Civil Litigation Bureau
Office of the Chief State’s Attorney
Hartford, CT
John H. Blume
Professor of Law, Director, Cornell Death Penalty Project
Cornell University Law School
Ithaca, NY
The Constitution Project has issued a news release, "Constitution Project Representatives Urge Congress to Restore Habeas Corpus for Death Penalty Cases."
Two representatives of the Constitution Project will testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties this afternoon at a hearing to consider the impact of limits on federal habeas corpus in death penalty cases. Stephen F. Hanlon, Chair of the Constitution Project’s Board of Directors, Chair of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Project Steering Committee, and partner at Holland and Knight, will testify on behalf of the ABA. The Honorable Gerald Kogan, Co-Chair of the Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Committee and former Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, will testimony on behalf of the Constitution Project. Both will provide testimony on the urgent need to restore habeas corpus for death penalty cases.
In his testimony submitted to the Subcommittee, Chief Justice Kogan states in part:“Federal habeas corpus is an enormously important element of our justice system with deep roots in our constitutional tradition. In particular, the federal courts’ authority to adjudicate constitutional claims advanced by state prisoners is a valuable means by which the Bill of Rights is enforced in criminal cases. Scarcely anyone contends that the federal courts should not have this authority. The policy debate is over the proper arrangements for habeas corpus litigation in the federal forum.”Mr. Hanlon adds in part:“[S]tate governments have failed for many years to implement the necessary reforms to address long-standing and systemic problems in our death penalty counsel systems. Mistakes that occur at trial as a result of these failures are aggravated by ever-tightening restrictions on federal court review, making it difficult, if not impossible, for federal courts to correct even the most serious deprivation of constitutional rights. A system that wrongly sentences people to death and then erects considerable obstacles to bar judicial review of their cases is not a system that comports with our principles of justice. It should not surprise us that one consequence is a loss of public confidence in the integrity and accuracy of our legal system.”
Justice Kogan's complete testimony is here; Hanlon's here; both in Adobe .pdf format.
The Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Committee’s consensus report, Mandatory Justice: The Death Penalty Revisited, will be submitted for the Subcommittee's record.
Related posts are in the federal legislation and habeas index.
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