But for many poor defendants, this right translates into representation by inexperienced, overworked, uninterested, or even incompetent attorneys. The problems faced by indigent defendants were exacerbated by FY96 federal funding decisions. For poor defendants, the Constitutionally-guaranteed right to equal protection of the laws is bitter irony. A second barrier is the time limits that states place on petitions to reopen cases based on newly-discovered evidence. Virginia requires a claim of innocence based on newly-discovered evidence to be brought within three weeks of final appeal.
Many states are nearly as bad.
Only seven states have no time limit. Restrictions on federal appeals constitute a third barrier to establishing innocence. To prevent death row inmates from postponing their executions by filing petition after petition, the bill set a six-month limit on filing a federal habeas corpus appeal in capital cases after exhausting the final state appeal. In setting these limits, legislators gave judicial expediency precedence over human life. The law bars federal judges who are hearing death penalty appeals from taking a fresh look at constitutional issues unless the state court s ruling on constitutional issues were contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law as determined by the Supreme Court.