Death Penalty Litigation
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta has appointed Professor Bernard E. Harcourt to represent an Alabama inmate who has been on death row for 26 years. Doyle Hamm is appealing the denial of his federal habeas corpus petition by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Birmingham.
“This is a classic case—typical in the capital punishment context—where a death row inmate sits for decades awaiting death and the courts never get to the merits of his case, always instead fighting over procedural technicalities,” Harcourt said. “If the federal court in Birmingham had gone straight to the merits of Hamm’s case, justice would move a lot faster and the process would have a lot more legitimacy.”
Eleventh Circuit Habeas Corpus Litigation:
Doyle Hamm Brief
Doyle Hamm Reply Brief
Eleventh Circuit Opinion
Rehearing Petition
Supreme Court Habeas Corpus Litigation:
Petition for Writ of Certiorari
Appendix to the Petition for Writ of Certiorari
Appendix: "PROPOSED MEMORANDUM OPINION"
Brief of Amici Curiae Alabama Justice and Bar Presidents in Support of Petitioner
State of Alabama's Brief in Opposition
Reply of Petitioner
Supplemental Brief
Corrected Petition for Rehearing
Supplemental Brief for Rehearing
Execution Litigation:
State of Alabama's Motion to Set an Execution Date
Doyle Lee Hamm's Motion for Enlargement of Time to Respond
The Case in the News:
"The Long Defense of the Alabama Death-Row Prisoner Doyle Lee Hamm" (The New Yorker, September 13, 2016)
"In Alabama death penalty cases, judges' opinions are routinely written by prosecutors" (The Washington Post, June 23, 2016)
"Hasty Death Penalty Review Raises Doubt in Alabama" (Bloomberg View, June 22, 2016)
"The Death Penalty Case Where Prosecutors Wrote the Judge’s ‘Opinion’" (The Marshall Project, June 19, 2016)
"When Prosecutors Write Opinions That Judges Sign Off On" (Brennan Center for Justice, November 13, 2014)
