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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. Under the proposed new system, individual states could apply directly to the U.S. Attorney General -- rather than to the courts, as is current law -- for "fast-track procedures." These procedures would limit review of death penalty cases in federal court, and give the Attorney General the sole power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases.

Recently-resigned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is the poster child for why so much power should never rest in the hands of one executive branch official. As counsel to then-Governor George Bush in Texas, one of Gonzales' most important jobs was to brief Bush on upcoming executions and clemency petitions. Regrettably, his briefings in these cases showed a troubling pattern of omitting important exculpatory evidence and a strong bias against clemency. In many cases, valid claims of incompetent counsel were simply ignored, including one in which a defendant's court-appointed lawyer "literally slept through major portions of the jury selection."

Now, the Bush Administration wants to give the same types of power to the next Attorney General on a much broader scale. The Justice Department has just released proposed regulations that, if adopted, will govern the Attorney General's review of state applications for "fast-track" status. But the Administration is permitting only a short time for public comment on these regulations; comments must be received by September 23rd, 2007.

Given the life and death nature of the Attorney General's potential new powers, it is vital that the public submit comments in opposition to these new regulations. No Attorney General -- least of all one appointed by this pro-death-penalty administration -- should have discretionary authority over fast-tracking inmates towards execution.  Please submit your comment to Ms. Norris at the U.S. DOJ using the form at right.