ALERT: Don't Give DoJ Power to Fast-Track Executions
From Act for Change
When Congress re-authorized the Patriot Act in 2005, death penalty supporters slipped in a provision intended to speed up appeals in federal death penalty cases. These procedures would limit review of death penalty cases in federal court, and give the U.S. Attorney General the sole power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases.
There's no one more unsuitable to make these life and death decisions than our current Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. While serving then-Governor Bush in Texas, Gonzales presented clemency briefings to Bush before each death penalty sentence was carried out. The record shows a distinct pattern of Gonzales presenting briefs that were biased towards execution, and deliberately excluding information that could have helped defendants argue for clemency.
Submit your public comment and tell the U.S. DOJ to scrap the proposed new procedures.
When Congress re-authorized the Patriot Act in 2005, death penalty supporters slipped in a provision intended to speed up appeals in federal death penalty cases. These procedures would limit review of death penalty cases in federal court, and give the U.S. Attorney General the sole power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases.
There's no one more unsuitable to make these life and death decisions than our current Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. While serving then-Governor Bush in Texas, Gonzales presented clemency briefings to Bush before each death penalty sentence was carried out. The record shows a distinct pattern of Gonzales presenting briefs that were biased towards execution, and deliberately excluding information that could have helped defendants argue for clemency.
Submit your public comment and tell the U.S. DOJ to scrap the proposed new procedures.
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