NCJ Number
121541
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 80 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1989) Pages: 427-490
Date Published
1989
Length
64 pages
Annotation
This article examines numerous Supreme Court decisions dealing with habeas corpus review petitions from capital defendants, concluding that the Court has created many obstacles to Federal habeas corpus review for capital defendants and should return to the standard established in Furman v. Georgia.
Abstract
Furman v. Georgia, decided in 1972, heightened the procedural safeguards due the capital defendant in the Federal habeas corpus process because of the serious nature of the death penalty. Cases decided since Furman are reviewed, however, to demonstrate how the Court strayed from the Furman protections when it became concerned with the increase in death sentence petitions entering the Federal habeas corpus process. Lower Federal courts have tried to maintain the Furman principles by retaining the availability of post-conviction review for capital defendants and avoiding the streamlined approach now approved by the Supreme Court. Capital defendants have the constitutional right to petition for Federal habeas corpus review. By abandoning the Furman standard, the Supreme Court is violating the Constitution. 461 footnotes.