(2011-1041-F) Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act

The materials in FOIA 2011-1041-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), is a large and controversial piece of legislation. Its stated purpose is to “deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, provide for an effective death penalty, and for other purposes.”1 The AEDPA contains nine titles covering a wide scope of law and amending numerous sections of the United States Code. The titles cover such topics as the reform of habeas-corpus appeals in death penalty cases, financial justice for victims, international terrorism fundraising prohibitions, terrorist and criminal alien removal and exclusion procedures, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons restrictions, the implementation of plastic-explosives conventions, criminal-law modifications to counter terrorism, and other assistance to law enforcement. 1 William J. Clinton: “Statement on Signing the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,” April 24, 1996. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=52713 The legislative history of the AEDPA is the culmination of several bills proposed by the President and members of Congress in the wake of a rash of terrorist incidents in the mid-1990s. President Clinton first introduced antiterrorism legislation in February of 1995. That bill, the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995, was a response to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City. Two months later, on April 26, 1995, and only one week after the domestic terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City, the President proposed an expanded version of his previous bill to the Senate and urged quick action. The following day, April 27th, Senators Robert Dole and Orrin Hatch introduced their own similar bill, the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act of 1995. With overwhelming bipartisan support, this comprehensive bill passed through the Senate in the short space of two months on June 7, 1995, with 91 yeas and only 8 nays. The actual floor debate lasted only four days in the Senate. The bill, however, stalled in the House until a modified version (the AEDPA), passed almost a year later, on March 14th, 1996. Not coincidentally, the final conference-bill version of the AEDPA was passed by Congress on April 19, 1996, the exact anniversary date of the Oklahoma City tragedy. President Clinton signed the bill into law five days later on April 24th, 1996. Probably the most written about and discussed aspects of the AEDPA have to do with the habeas-corpus reforms in death penalty cases (Title I), the great majority of records in this collection, especially the cables, emails and office records of the National Security Council are directly related to Title III and Title IV of the Act. Title III of the AEDPA criminalizes financial contributions to designated terrorist organizations and Title IV provides for alien-terrorist removal procedures and allows for the use of secret evidence in deportation hearings. This collection contains policy papers, memorandums, correspondence between the White House and members of Congress, speeches, talking points, cables and emails. The records in this collection come from offices as varied as the White House Counsel’s Office, the Domestic Policy Council, the Legislative Affairs Office and the National Security Council. This collection also contains email from the Automated Records Management System. The email consists of correspondence concerning the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). Many email messages concern amendments to the AEDPA, in fact many of the email files consists of one email, from Ronald E Jones to Leanne Shimbukuro, James Boden, and Jose Cerda containing the 1999 Crime Bill. The 1999 Crime Bill contains sections concerning amendments to AEDPA. The most notable set of emails concern a proposed amendment to the “secret evidence” provision under the AEDPA.