THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 185, August 24, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LIMITING ENDLESS DEATH PENALTY DELAYS
By Jon Kyle
CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY & CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: THE NEED FOR CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATION TO EFFECTIVELY &
STRICTLY LIMIT USE OF THE RIGHT TO HABEAS CORPUS AS THE BASIS OF FEDERAL COURT APPEALS BY PERSONS UNDER
PENALTY OF DEATH, DUE TO CONVICTION IN STATE COURTS OF CAPITAL OFFENSES -- THE STREAMLINED PROCEDURES ACT:
PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO UPDATE THE ANTITERRORISM & EFFECTIVE DEATH PENALTY ACT OF 1996, REDUCE THE
BACKLOG OF FEDERAL COURT APPEALS FROM STATE CONVICTIONS IN MAJOR CRIMINAL CASES, & HELP BRING CLOSURE TO
THE FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIME
FULL STORY:
On July 11, 2005, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a bill I introduced to reduce the backlog of federal court
appeals in major criminal cases and help bring closure to the families of victims of violent crime. Entitled the Streamlined
Procedures Act, it is an update of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), which was passed in the
wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The AEDPA was designed to limit endless death penalty appeals in state convictions, imposing a limit for all appeals relating to
the right to writ of habeas corpus in capital cases, and reducing the length of the appeals process by limiting the role of federal
courts. (Habeas corpus is the legal procedure by which persons accused of crimes seek to be released from custody -- it is
frequently used by death row inmates.) When the AEDPA was enacted, then-President Bill Clinton remarked that "it should not
take eight or nine years and three trips to the Supreme Court to finalize whether a person in fact was properly convicted or not."
Ten years later, unfortunately, things have gotten worse, not better. The backlog of "habeas" claims has actually increased, and
so has the workload of prosecutors, which is why Kent Cattani, Chief Counsel for the Capitol Litigation Section of the Arizona
Attorney General's office, appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to testify in strong support of my bill.
Federal court appeals continue to drag on endlessly. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, in fiscal year 1994,
there were 13,359 federal habeas petitions pending before the U.S. District Courts. By fiscal year 2003 -- the last year for which data
are available -- that number had risen to 23,218. Similarly, in FY94, 3,799 habeas petitions were pending before the U.S. Courts of
Appeals. By 2003, the backlog had nearly doubled, to 7,025.
These numbers represent much more than just a burden on the judicial system. Every one of these cases has a human cost as well,
often a heartbreaking one.
In June, 2005, Carol Fornoff of Tempe, Arizona, testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime about the impact
on her family of delays in reviewing the case of the man who was convicted in 1985, based on voluminous evidence, of raping and
murdering her 13-year-old daughter Christy. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the conviction in a lengthy opinion in 1988. The
killer then filed a federal habeas petition in 1992, and the Federal District Court spent 7 years reviewing the case. After more appeals
and remands, it remains in federal habeas review today, two decades later.
Mrs. Fornoff's testimony made a powerful case for why these types of delays are intolerable. Among other things, she noted that,
by this Fall, the case will have been in the federal appellate courts for longer than Christy was alive. The Fornoff family has a right
to know, within a reasonable timeframe, if the murderer was properly convicted, if his conviction might be thrown out, if they might
have to endure another trial, or worse, if there is a possibility that the killer might one day be released.
I have long made a priority of victims' rights, and co-sponsored the Justice for All Act, which President George W. Bush signed
into law last Fall. At the same time, I recognize that it is critical to allow prisoners who are or may be truly innocent -- as opposed to
those simply protesting some procedural technicality -- the opportunity to prove their innocence at every point in the judicial
process. For this reason, at every point, the Streamlined Procedures Act allows actual innocence or claims of innocence to move
forward unimpeded.
We all want to make sure that no innocent person is executed. But there's also a need for closure for victims and their families,
which can only be accomplished by reducing the backlog of habeas petitions. It has ofte been said that justice delayed is justice
denied. That's every bit as true for crime victims as it is for criminal defendants.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Criminal Justice Policy Issues
Legal Issues, Lawyers, & America's Judiciary
Jon Kyle is a Republican member of the U.S. Senate, elected from and representing the State of Arizona.
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