Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson Reintroduced a death penalty appeals bill that would allow death row inmates to present newly discovered evidence in their appeals.
H.R. 9868, also called the Effective Death Penalty Act, was initially introduced in 2009 and later in 2020. The bill would amend a provision of the U.S. Code that currently governs whether a state prisoner can file a writ of habeas corpus.
“We have innocent people on death row right now, with no opportunity to present new evidence of their innocence,” Johnson said in a press release issued Wednesday. “The status quo is inhumane and unconstitutional.”
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Under current law, a federal court cannot grant a writ of habeas corpus unless the petitioner has already exhausted all state court remedies. This requirement is explained by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1999, the Court held that such a requirement “was designed to give state courts a full and fair opportunity to resolve federal constitutional claims before bringing them to federal court.”
Georgia Representative Hank Johnson has reintroduced a death penalty appeals bill that would give death row inmates the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence in their appeals. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The bill allows a death row inmate to not only present newly discovered evidence that “proves the applicant is likely not guilty of the underlying offense” but also to present an ineffective attorney claim on direct appeal. Some states currently do not allow such claims on direct appeal.
The additional provision resulted from a 2022 Supreme Court case, Sheen v. Ramirez, when the court held that a habeas corpus court could not conduct an evidentiary hearing or consider evidence outside the state court record based on a claim of ineffective counsel.
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“I believe we should abolish the death penalty entirely, but despite the fact that 25 states – half of which are in the South – still have some form of the death penalty on their books, and some states like Alabama, Texas and Georgia continue to carry out state executions – America continues to execute the unjustly convicted. Effective death penalty appeal laws are needed to help individuals present newly discovered evidence,” Johnson said in the statement.
“We are now sentencing innocent people to death without the opportunity to present new evidence of innocence,” said Rep. Hank Johnson in a press release issued Wednesday. “The status quo is inhumane and unconstitutional.” (Doug Mills/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Rep. Chelly Pingree, D-Me., is a co-sponsor with Democratic Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ile. the account
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The Supreme Court, which began its new term earlier this month, will hear oral arguments on an appeal starting Wednesday Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip, who maintains his innocence in a 1997 murder-for-hire case of the owner of a motel where he previously worked. Glossip's initial conviction was overturned by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals after the court concluded that he “received constitutionally ineffective assistance in several respects.”
Anti-death penalty activists, members of MoveOn.org and other advocacy groups gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to block the execution of Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip on September 29, 2015, in Washington, DC. (Larry French/Getty Images for MoveOn.org)
Glossip now argues before the Supreme Court that he did not receive a fair trial because the prosecution suppressed evidence from a key prosecution witness. Judge Neil Gorsuch Did not participate in the judgment of the appeal due to previous involvement in the appeal process while acting in the first instance.
