Mike Levin: “If we are getting back to where we have always been, we don't need this amendment. The Senator just answered my question…”

“If we are getting back to where we have always been, we don't need this amendment. The Senator just answered my question by not answering it. I asked him what court would an appeal of a death sentence be appealed to? His answer was, a three-judge panel. That three-judge panel is appointed by the Secretary of Defense. I asked specifically to what court would a death sentence be appealed, if this language is adopted. I read the language as to how broad it is. It eliminates explicitly any appeal: No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for writ of habeas corpus, and that is the way an appeal goes to a court from one of these people. It is eliminated. We strip courts of the right to hear a habeas corpus petition on a death sentence. I agree with what the Senator started out to do with his amendment. He was on the right track. But this language goes way beyond it. That is why the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Specter, and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy, oppose this amendment.”