State justices oppose death penalty bill

CHARLESTON, S.C., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The chief justices of state Supreme Courts have voted to oppose a bill aimed at quicker executions in the United States.

The Streamlined Procedures Act, introduced in the U.S. Senate by John Kyl, R-Ariz., and in the House by Dan Lungren, R-Calif., would keep many appeals out of the federal courts, the justices said.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Warren B. Jefferson, chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, cast the only vote against the resolution at the Conference of Chief Justices meeting. Jefferson said he had not had time to review it.

Ronald M. George, a death penalty supporter who heads the California Supreme Court, said he worries about fairness and supports recent federal Supreme Court rulings on the rights of defendants in capital cases.

"Those Rehnquist court decisions would not have been possible if this legislation had been in effect. That is troubling to me," George said.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., head of the Judiciary Committee, plans to introduce amendments to the legislation. The bill has been opposed by groups of attorneys general and by some conservative legal groups.