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ACLU-CT’s Andrew Schneider has urged the Judiciary Committee of the General Assembly not to put time limits on filing of habeas corpus and similar appeals. “Mistakes in capital cases are not easily remedied and are rarely discovered until long after an individual has exhausted all avenues of appeal,” he told legislators. “Yet misconduct by the police and prosecutors, perjury by witnesses and honest mistakes can and do occur. Weighed against the possibility of sending an innocent person to death, the arguments of those who advocate a rush to the gallows ring hollow.” In addition, Schneider argued, cutting short the habeas appeal process would have a disproportionate effect on minorities.Recent research has revealed a remarkably consistent pattern of sentencing in capital cases that can only be explained by race, he said. Making it harder to file habeas appeals will only serve to prevent the courts from confronting the institutional racism that exists in state death penalty proceedings. Read the ACLU testimony: Habeas time limit testimony Support our work: Click on DONATE in the upper right-hand corner. We need and appreciate your help!
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