Abstract

Crimes Against Habeas Corpus

In their poll-driven stampede to look tough on crime and improve the safety of the streets, members of U.S. Congress have once again compromised the safety of the individual liberties by voting to strip from both House and Senate versions of the crime bill all provisions aimed at safeguarding the right of habeas corpus. Eager to streamline the appeals process and to shorten the average eight-year time lag between conviction and execution, in the past five years alone the Supreme Court has issued more than a dozen rulings that have severely limited the number and scope of claims inmates may bring to federal courts. The habeas provisions proffered by the House Judiciary Committee would have eliminated some of those new procedural obstacles and enabled inmates to have their day in federal court without being able to abuse that privilege by repeatedly filing last-minute, specious appeals.