Supreme Court upholds curb on death row appeals
June 28, 1996
Web posted at: 12:30 p.m. EDTWASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a new federal law that cuts back on death row appeals.
In an opinion written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the court ruled that the curbs on death row appeals -- part of an anti-terrorism law -- do not violate the Constitution.
The new law denies death row inmates some of their access to federal courts. Inmates who are denied a federal hearing in the first round of appeals must have permission from a lower court panel before filing another appeal. That panel's ruling cannot be appealed.
But, the court said, inmates may file unlimited appeals directly to the Supreme Court, although those appeals are rarely granted.
The Clinton administration had asked the court to uphold the new law. It was challenged by a Georgia death row inmate, Ellis Wayne Felker, who was convicted of murdering a waitress in a small town near Macon, Georgia. He has been on death row in Georgia for 13 years.
The court rejected Felker's claim that the new law risked executing innocent people and also refused to hear his direct appeal to the Supreme Court for a review of his case. Felker got a last-minute stay of execution from the court last month so it could consider his challenge to the federal law.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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