Attorney General Steve Marshall recently filed a 16-state coalition letter supporting a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that would streamline federal review of state capital murder convictions.
The proposed changes to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 would allow the state to effectively cut down on the length of time Alabama inmates spend on death row, Marshall argued.
According to Marshall’s office, States are not required to provide free counsel to indigent inmates beyond their first appeal. But if States provide counsel for state post-conviction proceedings, Congress has established procedures to expedite federal review by imposing strict deadlines and limiting avenues for further appeal.
When an inmate challenges their detention through a writ of habeas corpus, the delays often take years. The congressional procedures were designed to prevent that. However, Marshall argues that states cannot avail themselves of the protections provided by Congress because of current DOJ rules, which he says are not conducive to expedited justice.
In his brief, Marshall claims that “Federal habeas review is the primary impediment to timely enforcement of the death penalty.”
“The State of Alabama, for instance, has executed multiple prisoners in recent years who had spent over three decades in custody,” Marshall’s letter reads. “This, despite state law that a capital murderer ‘shall be executed … no[ ]more than 100 days from the date of sentence.’”
Marshall argues in his letter that the DOJ’s proposed rule would end the “Interminable labyrinth” of federal habeas petitions.
"Behind every one of these cases is a family that has already waited decades for a resolution that the law promised them. Even when we win, the manufactured procedural delay can make legal victories feel like a wound reopened. These families deserve finality, and I’m hopeful DOJ’s new rule will help deliver it,” Marshall said. "Delay in capital cases benefits no one except those determined to use the courts as an instrument of obstruction. When proceedings stretch by decades, grieving families are not protected; they are punished.”
Marshall, who led the brief, was joined by attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas.
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