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On Tuesday, November 3, Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia presented a bill that will allow for death row inmates to file multiple habeas corpus petitions. Habeas Corpus is the right of someone to file for subsequent hearings to determine if they are lawfully or unlawfully detained. Current law prevents federal courts from providing habeas corpus to death row inmates except in limited situations. This can leave many people on death row even when new evidence comes to the surface.
Georgians know this all too well from the case of Troy Davis. Troy, convicted of killing a Savannah police officer, has had new evidence arise in his case which does show probable innocence. Since his conviction the majority of the witnesses have either recanted on their testimony or have substantially altered it in signed affidavits. There has also been new testimony that implicates one of the remaining two witnesses. Despite this, Troy had already gone through the appeals process, leaving him unable to seek habeas corpus when this new evidence came to the surface. On August 17th, however, the US Supreme Court ordered that a new evidentiary hearing be given to Troy. In this hearing his innocence will have to be clearly proven in order to proceed.
H.R. 3986 or The Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act will allow for a federal court to grant habeas corpus when evidence is found proving probable innocence. It also grants those on death row the right to file successive habeas corpus appeals. In order to file, however, they must have new evidence which a panel of federal judges rules to be “reasonably expected to demonstrate innocence.” This will provide a much needed safeguard to keep innocent people from falling victim to the death penalty. It is not as good as all out abolition, but it is a start.
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