NEW RESOURCE: The Impact of AEDPA Legislation in Limiting Appeals

A recent edi­tion of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review fea­tures arti­cles about the impact of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in lim­it­ing appeals by pris­on­ers and death row inmates. AEDPA was enact­ed in 1996, and Harvard Law School spon­sored a sym­po­sium mark­ing the leg­is­la­tion’s tenth anniver­sary. One arti­cle by Bryan Stevenson, Director of the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative, ​“Confronting Mass Imprisonment and Restoring Fairness to Collateral Review of Criminal Cases,” dis­cuss­es how AEDPA and relat­ed court deci­sions have cre­at­ed bar­ri­ers to chal­leng­ing con­sti­tu­tion­al vio­la­tions and restrict­ed sub­stan­tive review in death penal­ty cas­es. Additionally, many states are reduc­ing the time per­sons on death row have to file an appeal. Procedural hur­dles make it very dif­fi­cult for an inmate who can­not afford a lawyer to file an appeal that will not be barred on pro­ce­dur­al grounds, and court appoint­ed lawyers are often not avail­able for this process.

Symposium: ​“Pro Se Litigation Ten Years After AEDPA,” 41 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 289 (2006). See Law Reviews.