NATL: Attorney General Wants More Power over the Death Penalty
August 22, 2007 - 2:28pm
At a time when people have been found innocent and freed from death row, when evidence is surfacing that innocent people have been executed, the U.S. Attorney General is drafting rules that would lead to faster executions.
The rules would give Attorney General Alberto Gonzales the power to decide if a person on death row had adequate counsel. This power comes from a provision included in the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Currently, federal judges have the power to decide if a person had adequate counsel. Being the nation’s highest level prosecutor, Mr. Gonzales is hardly unbiased when it comes to making decisions on death row cases.
The rules are open to public comment until September 23. You can read the proposed rules change in the Federal Register.
This news brief is based on a story in the LA Times, Gonzales Could Get Say in States’ Executions. If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s archives.
The rules would give Attorney General Alberto Gonzales the power to decide if a person on death row had adequate counsel. This power comes from a provision included in the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Currently, federal judges have the power to decide if a person had adequate counsel. Being the nation’s highest level prosecutor, Mr. Gonzales is hardly unbiased when it comes to making decisions on death row cases.
The rules are open to public comment until September 23. You can read the proposed rules change in the Federal Register.
This news brief is based on a story in the LA Times, Gonzales Could Get Say in States’ Executions. If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s archives.
