The Political Chase

Patriot Act Shifts Death Penalty Responsibilities to Gonzales

The Executive Branch, and more specifically the U.S. Attorney General, will soon gain additional responsibilities for determining the appropriateness and validity of death penalty sentences imposed by states, and consequently short-circuiting the existing appeal process that currently resides in the purview of the federal courts as provided for in the U.S. Constitution. That’s right, instead of being booted out of the Bush administration for proven incompetence and probable criminal activities, Alberto Gonzales will gain more power that is arguably unconstitutional.

During the Patriot Act reauthorization process last year, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) slipped new “language in the Patriot Act…that let the attorney general, rather than judges, decide whether states were ensuring death row inmates had adequate legal representation,” the L.A. Times reports.

The rules implement a little-noticed provision in last year’s reauthorization of the Patriot Act that gives the attorney general the power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases. The authority has been held by federal judges.

Under the rules now being prepared, if a state requested it and Gonzales agreed, prosecutors could use “fast track” procedures that could shave years off the time that a death row inmate has to appeal to the federal courts after conviction in a state court.

[...] Frustrated with the pace of changes — and believing that judges were part of the problem — death penalty advocates Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River) and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) led a successful effort to include language in the Patriot Act last year that let the attorney general, rather than judges, decide whether states were ensuring death row inmates had adequate legal representation.

It’s bad enough that Alberto Gonzales will be tasked with this responsibility, but that notwithstanding, why has the Justice Department been given responsibilities that are clearly defined as being held by the Judicial Branch?

Did anybody in Congress read the Patriot Act (1.0 or 2.0) before voting on it?

This action and countless others clearly demonstrates how George Bush and Dick Cheney have implemented an authoritarian rule over the country. The dismantling of the Constitution and the Republic by the Bush administration is what I focused on in my previously mentioned mini-sabbatical, and will be discussing in the coming days.

Arguably, this country is facing more than a potential constitutional crisis. This is not hyperbole or hubris - the country’s ability to function as a republic is seriously at risk. While the Bush administration is doing more than their fair share of damage, Congress, the media, and We the People are all complicit. We cannot possibly boil the ocean all at once, but we can focus on this particular issue for now at least.

According to the Times, the Justice Department is “seeking public comment on the [new] rules until Sept. 23.” Unfortunately, they did not provide additional information on how or where to participate in the public discourse. Does anybody already have the scoop on submitting public comments?