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Expediting Death: Repressive Tolerance And Post-Conviction Due Process Jurisprudence In Capital Cases, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

The legitimacy of capital punishment has long been intertwined with the integrity of the procedures for its imposition including opportunities for review on appeal and in collateral hearings. Proposed legislation would dramatically abbreviate the habeas process in capital cases. The proposed bills which would accelerate the imposition of death sentences are matched by an increased willingness by courts to employ summary proceedings to expedite habeas procedures. This acceleration in the imposition of death sentences is part of the larger picture in which capital cases receive different and less favorable constitutional treatment than other criminal or civil cases.

This article draws …