Gonzales, Putting Death on the Fast-Track
Gonzales to Get Power In Death Penalty Cases Rules Would Expand Fast-Track Authority
By Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 15, 2007; A02
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, under political siege for his handling of the U.S. attorney firings and other issues, is to get expanded powers to hasten death penalty cases under regulations being developed by the Justice Department.
The rules would give Gonzales the authority to approve "fast-track" procedures by states in death penalty cases, enabling them to carry out sentences more speedily and with fewer opportunities for appeal if those states provide adequate representation for capital defendants.
Such powers were previously held by federal judges, but a provision of the USA Patriot Act reauthorization bill approved by Congress last year hands the authority to the attorney general.
Under the regulations, death row inmates would have six months, instead of a year, to file appeals in the federal courts, and federal ju…