HOUSTON (AP) — Texas is again attempting to expedite the execution process by seeking U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' approval to opt in to a federal law shortening legal deadlines and limiting appeals options for death-sentenced inmates.
The renewed request to the Justice Department will avoid "stressful delays" and cut "excessive costs" of lengthy federal court proceedings, according to Kayleigh Lovvorn, spokeswoman for the state's attorney general.
But defense attorneys oppose the opt-in, saying it would lead to executing innocent people and could end ongoing appeals for many death row prisoners if applied retroactively. The request sparked a federal lawsuit and hundreds of comments from the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Bar Association, Mexico's government and defense lawyers, the Houston Chronicle reported .
"In an environment like Texas where you know the state gets it wrong — and not just accidentally, but intentionally — why in the world would you ever take steps to speed up the process to execute a potentially innocent person?" said Casey Kaplan, an attorney who helped free a wrongly convicted Harris County man from death row.
Texas has petitioned federal officials for many years to speed up the execution process under the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. The law sets time limits to quicken federal appeals in death penalty cases. It also gives greater deference to state courts.
Speeding up the process would provide relief to victims' families who often grow frustrated by the reexamination of cases, said Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.
States must prove they offer quality lawyers early in the "state habeas" appeal process to qualify for the special opt-in certification.
"Opt-in presumes that we've reached this promised land of excellent and well-resourced legal representation at all levels for everyone on death row and in fact we have not," said Kathryn Kase, a Texas defense attorney.
Texas would be the first state to receive opt-in approval in more than two decades if the application is greenlighted by Sessions, who recently pushed for capital punishment for drug dealers in some cases. It's unclear when the state will receive a decision.