The United States Department of Justice has announced further delay in implementing a system designed to speed up federal court review of state death penalty cases. The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a victims’ rights group based in Sacramento, California, has denounced the move as a betrayal of victims of crime.
The “fast track” for federal court review of state capital cases was originally enacted by Congress in 1996 as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. States that provided counsel for death row inmates in the second stage of state-court review of their cases would receive the benefit of a streamlined review in federal court, including time limits on those courts. However, the original system had a built-in conflict of interest in that the courts subject to the constraints were the ones who decided whether a state qualified. They invariably found reasons not to give the states the promised benefits.
In 2006, in the bill that renewed the Patriot Act, Congress removed the authority to decide whether a state qualified from the conflicted courts and gave it to the Attorney General with review by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the one circuit that does not hear state habeas cases. The bill also provided that the Attorney General would promulgate regulations to implement the act.
The Bush Administration took almost two years to produce and finalize regulations at the very end of that Administration. A federal district court in California enjoined implementation of the regulations, despite the fact that the core purpose of the amendment was to remove the certification issues from the courts that decide habeas cases. The Obama Justice Department failed to challenge this injunction.
In a notice dated Tuesday, the Justice Department proposed rescinding the already much-delayed regulations, to be replaced with new regulations later. This move could further delay, possibly by years, implementing a law that has already been stalled for 14 years.
“This announcement is conclusive proof that the present leadership of the United States Department of Justice cares nothing about justice,” said Kent Scheidegger, CJLF’s Legal Director. “Justice has already been delayed far too long, and further delay is unconscionable.”
CJLF also called upon the attorneys general of the states to take vigorous action. “Do not wait for regulations any longer,” said Scheidegger. “Apply now, let Eric Holder turn you down, and then take the case to the D.C. Circuit.”
