Entries tagged with “AEDPA”
What to Know Series
,May 18, 2026
What to Know: DOJ Seeks to Fast-Track Appeals for Death-Sentenced Prisoners Through “Opt-In” Certification Process Without Considering Opposing Views
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) wants to fast-track death penalty appeals and has proposed a new set of regulations designed to facilitate that process. If implemented, the proposed rule would allow the Attorney General to “certify” active death penalty states like Texas, Florida, and Alabama, resulting in shorter filing deadlines and restricted federal court review, among other changes intended to move appeals through the courts more quickly. The rule as currently proposed allows the…
May 28, 2025
The “Fiction of Agency”: Jeffrey Hutchinson Is the Latest of Many Executed After Attorneys Missed Deadlines to File Federal Appeals
On May 1, Jeffrey Hutchinson, a Gulf War veteran, was executed in Florida for the murders of his girlfriend and her three young children. As he fought behind enemy lines in some of the most dangerous regions on earth, bombs rattled and nerve gas corroded his brain, causing permanent damage that would contribute to the tragedy just a few years later. “His mind was a casualty, just like any limb lost in combat,” a group of 129 military veterans wrote in a letter urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt…