Habeas Corpus: eliminating Federal review of indigent capital cases?

i have to ask myself, why is this even being considered...? what earthly purpose can it serve...?

Congress is quietly considering whether to destroy one of the pillars of constitutional law: the habeas corpus power of the federal courts to determine whether an indigent defendant has been unjustly sentenced to death in state courts.

A bill making alarming progress in committee would effectively strip federal courts of most review power and shift it to the attorney general. That's right: the chief prosecutor of the United States would become the judge of whether state courts behave fairly enough toward defendants appealing capital convictions. If a state system was certified as up to snuff, then the federal courts would lose their jurisdiction and condemned defendants their last hope.

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The injustices of the criminal court process flow considerably from the widespread lack of competent defense counsel in the first place.

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Proponents insist that truly meritorious complaints would somehow survive under this oppressive bill. In fact, it would make the execution of the innocent even more likely than it already is.

is it possible to have too many safeguards in place to insure against societally-sanctioned murder...?

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