Patsy T. Mink: “this amendment which has been offered expresses the fundamental belief that people in this country have about our courts…”

“this amendment which has been offered expresses the fundamental belief that people in this country have about our courts and the judicial system. And that goes to the belief that somehow the system of justice will protect those who are innocent. And what we are doing here today is trying to insert into legislation which has been proposed that fundamental principle of making sure that no matter how we tamper with the law, no matter what restrictions we put on the right of habeas corpus, no matter what limits we put to it, that if the defendant has newly found evidence that goes to prove his innocence, he ought to have an opportunity to raise that issue before the court and to take it back for a trial. That is all we are saying. This is not a debate about the death penalty. This is not a debate about whether or not we ought to have greater restrictions on the use of the writ of habeas corpus. This is not even about a question of abuse. This admits all of the necessities that have been found in the majority's legislation and says, ``Yes, but wait a minute, if we put all of these new restrictions into the law, what is going to happen to an individual who might be found innocent because of newly found evidence?'' We are not saying that these defendants have a right to try the case all over again de novo.”