[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 164 (Thursday, August 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52416-52417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18252]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OLP Docket No. 174]


Arizona Chapter 154 Certification Review; Notice regarding 
Arizona's June 2022 Response

AGENCY: Department of Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the State of Arizona has 
provided additional information about its capital counsel mechanism, 
and solicits public comment on that supplemental information.

DATES: Written and electronic comments must be submitted on or before 
October 24, 2022. Comments received by mail will be considered timely 
if they are postmarked on or before that date. The electronic Federal 
Docket Management System (FDMS) will accept comments until Midnight 
Eastern Time at the end of that day.

ADDRESSES: To ensure proper handling of comments, please reference 
``Docket No. OLP 174'' on all electronic and written correspondence. 
The Department encourages that all comments be submitted electronically 
through http://www.regulations.gov using the electronic comment form 
provided on that site. Paper comments that duplicate the electronic 
submission should not be submitted. Individuals who wish to submit 
written comments may send those to the contact listed in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section immediately below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Hinchman, Senior Counsel, 
Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20530; telephone (202) 514-8059.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Chapter 154 of title 28 of the United States 
Code (chapter 154) provides special procedures for federal habeas 
corpus review of cases brought by prisoners in State custody who are 
subject to capital sentences. These special procedures may be available 
to a State only if the Attorney General of the United States has 
certified that the State has established a qualifying mechanism for the 
appointment, compensation, and payment of reasonable litigation 
expenses of competent counsel in State postconviction proceedings for 
indigent capital prisoners. 28 U.S.C. 2261, 2265; 28 CFR part 26.
    By letter dated April 13, 2020, the State of Arizona was notified 
of former Attorney General William Barr's certification of Arizona's 
capital counsel mechanism under chapter 154, and the statement of 
certification and supporting analysis (Certification) was published in 
the Federal Register on April 14, 2020 (85 FR 20705). As permitted by 
chapter 154, a group of Arizona capital prisoners and the Arizona 
Federal Public Defender's Office instituted a petition for review of 
the Certification on April 29, 2020 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for 
the District of Columbia Circuit. See 28 U.S.C. 2265(c). On February 
10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (Department) informed the 
court that then-Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson had determined 
that aspects of the Certification may benefit from further 
consideration or further development of the record. On April 28, 2021, 
the Department moved for a voluntary remand of the Certification to 
facilitate further development of the administrative record and 
reconsideration of the Certification by Attorney General Merrick 
Garland. The court granted that motion on May 26, 2021. Office of the 
Federal Public

[[Page 52417]]

Defender for the District of Arizona v. Garland, No. 20-1144, Doc. 
1900251 (D.C. Cir.).
    Thereafter, the Department sent a letter dated October 12, 2021, to 
Arizona requesting that the State provide answers to a number of 
questions that had arisen during the Department's ongoing review of the 
Certification. This notice advises the public that the State of Arizona 
has submitted additional information in response, in a letter dated 
June 24, 2022, and solicits public comment on that supplemental 
information. The correspondence with Arizona, including its letter of 
June 24, 2022, may be viewed at https://www.justice.gov/olp/pending-requests-final-decisions.

    Dated: August 18, 2022.
Hampton Y. Dellinger,
Assistant Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 2022-18252 Filed 8-24-22; 8:45 am]
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