[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 23 (Thursday, February 5, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 6131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2493]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
28 CFR Part 26
[Docket No. OJP (DOJ)-1464; AG Order No. 3048-2009]
RIN 1121-AA74
Certification Process for State Capital Counsel Systems
AGENCY: Department of Justice.
ACTION: Notice of request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization
Act of 2005, the Department of Justice promulgated a final rule to
implement certification procedures for states seeking to qualify for
the expedited federal habeas corpus review procedures in capital cases
under chapter 154 of title 28 of the United States Code. Certification
Process for State Capital Counsel Systems, 73 FR 75327 (Dec. 11, 2008).
The procedural benefits of chapter 154 are available to states that
establish mechanisms for providing counsel to indigent capital
defendants in state postconviction proceedings that satisfy certain
statutory requirements. The Department hereby requests public comment
on issues related to the final rule.
DATES: Comments are due April 6, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Please address all comments regarding this notice, by U.S.
mail, to: Ben Gorban, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice
Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 810 7th Street, NW., Washington,
DC 20531. To ensure proper handling, please reference OJP Docket No.
1464 on your correspondence. You may view an electronic version of this
notice at http://www.regulations.gov, and you may also comment by using
the http://www.regulations.gov comment form for this notice. When
submitting comments electronically you must include OJP Docket No. 1464
in the subject box.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Gorban, Bureau of Justice
Assistance, Office of Justice Programs at (202) 616-6500 (not a toll-
free number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Chapter 154 provides procedural benefits in
federal habeas corpus review of capital cases to states that go beyond
the constitutional requirement of appointing counsel for indigents at
trial and on appeal by providing counsel also to capital defendants in
state postconviction proceedings. Chapter 154 has been in place since
the enactment of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
1996 (Pub. L. 104-132).
Section 507 of Public Law 109-177, the USA PATRIOT Improvement and
Reauthorization Act of 2005 (``the Act''), amended chapter 154 of title
28 of the United States Code. Prior to the Act, the determination that
a state was eligible for the procedural benefits of chapter 154 had
been left to the federal court of appeals for the circuit in which a
state was located. The Act, inter alia, amended sections 2261(b) and
2265 of title 28 to assign responsibility for chapter 154
certifications to the Attorney General of the United States, subject to
de novo review by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit.
Section 2265(b) directs the Attorney General to promulgate
regulations to implement the certification procedure. The Department of
Justice published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on June 6,
2007, for this purpose, to add a new subpart in 28 CFR part 26 entitled
``Certification Process for State Capital Counsel Systems.''
Certification Process for State Capital Counsel Systems, 72 FR 31217
(June 6, 2007). The comment period ended on August 6, 2007. The
Department published a notice on August 9, 2007, reopening the comment
period, and the reopened comment period ended on September 24, 2007. 72
FR 44816 (Aug. 9, 2007). The Department of Justice published the final
rule on December 11, 2008, with a scheduled effective date of January
12, 2009. Certification Process for State Capital Counsel Systems, 73
FR 75327 (Dec. 11, 2008).
The final rule is the subject of a preliminary injunction issued by
a district court in the Northern District of California. See Habeas
Corpus Res. Ctr. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, No. C 08-2649 CW (N.D. Cal.,
Jan. 20, 2009). The Department of Justice has decided to solicit
further comment on all aspects of the final rule for 60 days following
publication of this notice. The Department will consider comments
received during this period and publish a summary and response as
appropriate.
Dated: February 2, 2009.
Mark Filip,
Acting Attorney General.
[FR Doc. E9-2493 Filed 2-4-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P