[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2443 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2443

To ensure that death penalty defendants have a true opportunity to have 
     their cases considered by the courts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 2, 2002

  Mr. Specter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure that death penalty defendants have a true opportunity to have 
     their cases considered by the courts, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Death Penalty Review Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF DEATH ROW INMATES TO REVIEW OF CASES 
              GRANTED CERTIORARI.

    Section 2101 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(h) Upon notice by a party that has filed a motion for a stay of 
execution or filed for certiorari with, or has been granted certiorari 
by, the United States Supreme Court in an appeal from a case in which 
the sentence is death, the Governor of the State in which the death 
sentence is to be carried out, in a State case, or the Director of the 
Bureau of Prisons, the Secretary of a military branch, or any other 
Federal official with authority to carry out the death sentence, in a 
Federal case, shall suspend the execution of the sentence of death 
until the United States Supreme Court enters a stay of execution or 
until certiorari is acted upon and the case is disposed of by the 
United States Supreme Court.
    ``(i) For purposes of this section, the United States Supreme Court 
shall treat a motion for a stay of execution as a petition for 
certiorari.
    ``(j) In an appeal from a case in which the sentence is death, a 
writ of certiorari shall be issued by the United States Supreme Court 
upon the vote of at least 4 qualified justices.''.

SEC. 3. HABEAS CORPUS.

    (a) State Court Proceedings.--Section 2251 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a)'' at the beginning of the text;
            (2) by designating the second sentence as subsection (b); 
        and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a justice or 
judge of the United States before whom a habeas corpus proceeding that 
involves the death sentence is pending shall stay the execution of the 
death sentence until the proceeding is completed. If the issuance of 
such a stay requires more than 1 judge to concur or vote on the stay, 
the court before which the proceeding is pending shall grant the stay.
    ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, a case is pending before--
            ``(A) a court in the Circuit Court of Appeals, if a notice 
        of appeal has been filed; and
            ``(B) the United States Supreme Court, if a petition for 
        certiorari has been filed, or if a motion to stay execution has 
        been filed.
    ``(3) A case described in paragraph (2) remains pending before the 
court until the petition for certiorari is denied. If the petition is 
granted, the case remains pending.
    ``(4) If a higher court is unable or fails to issue a stay pursuant 
to this subsection, a lower court before which the case had been 
pending shall issue the stay of execution.
    ``(d) For purposes of this section, a motion to stay execution 
shall be treated as a petition for certiorari.''.
    (b) Federal Court Proceedings.--Section 2255 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a justice or judge of 
the United States, before whom a habeas corpus proceeding that involves 
a Federal death sentence is pending, shall stay the execution of the 
death sentence until the proceeding is completed. If the issuance of 
such a stay requires more than 1 judge to concur or vote on the stay, 
the court before which the proceeding is pending shall grant the stay.
    ``If a higher court is unable or fails to issue a stay pursuant to 
the preceding paragraph, a lower court before which the case had been 
pending shall issue the stay of execution. For purposes of this 
section, a motion to stay execution shall be treated as a petition for 
certiorari. A case described in the preceding paragraph--
            ``(1) is pending before a court in the Circuit Court of 
        Appeals if a notice of appeal has been filed; and
            ``(2) is pending before the United States Supreme Court 
        if--
                    ``(A) a petition for certiorari has been filed and 
                has not been denied; or
                    ``(B) a motion to stay execution has been filed.''.
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