the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005-Legal railroading

[LiviaOlivia]

Legal railroading disguised as efficiency
By Ira Reiner
IRA REINER was Los Angeles' district attorney from 1984 to 1992. He continues to practice law in Los Angeles.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-reiner26sep26,0,4014184.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
September 26, 2005

THE SENATE Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005 this week. This legislation, ostensibly designed to make the justice system more efficient, is a Trojan horse whose transparent purpose is to strip the federal courts of virtually all of their jurisdiction to review state criminal court proceedings.

Essentially, the legislation would eviscerate the role of the federal courts in ensuring that innocent people are not mistakenly convicted of crimes and that state courts do not send people to prison in violation of their constitutional rights. It would restrict habeas corpus rights, which are enshrined in the Constitution, date back to the Magna Carta and guarantee that you can go to a court and tell a judge that you are being held illegally.

Why is this the role of the federal courts? Although most state courts and prosecutors are committed to the highest expression of justice, it is unfortunately true that sometimes that ideal is honored more in the breach than in observance. Historically, it is the federal courts that have provided the necessary corrective action when state courts fail.

The Streamline Procedures Act only allows for federal review of convictions based on new proof of what the bill calls "actual innocence." It would not, for example, allow for review where a defendant was convicted on the basis of perjured testimony or other fabricated evidence, or when a conviction was tainted by racial bias in jury selection. And even when there is new evidence of innocence, under this proposed law a person could still be denied a hearing if he or she could not sufficiently explain why the evidence was not discovered earlier. In other words, no matter how compelling the evidence of innocence might be, the courthouse doors would be closed because the proof came too late.

~snip~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005

Committees in the U.S. Congress are currently considering the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005 (S.1088, H.R.3035), which, if passed, would decrease safeguards against false imprisonment or execution and increase the risk that an innocent person will be executed.

This legislation would speed up executions in the United States by limiting the ability of defendants to have cases reviewed by federal courts in habeas corpus appeals.

If this bill becomes law, it will doom many innocent people to long-term incarceration or death.

Please use this alert to urge Congress not to pass the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005.

http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/tmn/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=957

also read:

http://www.truthinjustice.org/streamlined.htm