The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub. L. 104–132 (text) (PDF), 110 Stat. 1214, enacted April 24, 1996, was introduced to the United States Congress in April 1995 as a Senate Bill (S. 735). The bill was passed with broad bipartisan support by Congress in response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
Controversial for its changes to the law of habeas corpus in the United States, the AEDPA also contained a number of provisions to "deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, provide for an effective death penalty, and for other purposes."
On February 10, 1995, Senator Joe Biden introduced the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995 to the United States Senate. Just as with its successor, the omnibus bill was introduced on behalf of the Clinton Administration. In the two months that the bill was debated in the Senate, little progress was made towards passage.
Following the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, a new antiterrorism bill was introduced to the Senate by Republican Senate Majority leader Bob Dole. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 was introduced on April 27, 1995. Although the bill was promoted as an urgent measure, it remained stalled in Congress between December 1995 until March of 1996. It would not see further Congressional activity until March of 1996.
The act was codified in sections of Title 8, Title 18 and Title 28. The law amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to allow US citizens to file civil lawsuits against some foreign countries when Americans were killed in terrorist attacks. It authorized the State Department to designate foreign terrorist organizations.
Within days of the AEDPA being introduced, there were disagreements between Republican and Democratic leadership over combining federal habeas corpus reform with the anti-terrorism law. Republicans refused to negotiate with Congressional democrats and fast-tracked the bill without a report. Legal analysts note that the exaggerated urgency following the Oklahoma City bombing has tended to obscure the legislative history. Some of the changes to restrict de novo hearings in federal courts have been controversial.
In 1998 Antonin Scalia commented that the purpose of AEDPA was "to streamline and simplify [habeas corpus]". President Clinton acknowledged that "it should not take eight or nine years and three trips to the Supreme Court to finalize whether a person, in fact, was properly convicted or not". However, in his signing statement, he noted his strong objections to changes made to immigration statutes that eliminated relief for legal residents with minor drug convictions: "[AEDPA] makes a number of major ill-advised changes in our immigration laws having nothing to do with fighting terrorism." He did not want the anti-terrorism bill to stall over divisive additions. Instead of vetoing the bill, his administration pursued legislative options to countermand these changes.
AEDPA eventually passed with bipartisan support. The final vote in Senate was 91–8 and in the House of Representatives 293–133. It was signed into law on April 24, 1996.
Title I - Habeas Corpus Reform
Changes filing deadlines and limits appeals for death penalty cases. For more see Habeas Corpus.
Title II - Justice for Victims
This section provides for mandatory victim restitution, alters jurisdiction for lawsuits against terrorist states, and expands assistance for victims of terrorism.
Title III - International Terrorism Prohibitions
One of the sections included in the bill as originally introduced, this section received broad bipartisan support from the beginning. It prohibits international terrorist fundraising, gives authority to the Secretary of State to designate foreign organizations as terrorist organizations, allows criminal prosecution of anyone found to be providing funding to any organization linked to a designated terrorist organization. Prohibits assistance to terrorist states, including military aid and assistance from international financial institutions.
Title IV - Terrorist and Criminal Alien Removal and Exclusion
Provides for the removal of alien terrorists, the exclusion of members and representatives of terrorist organizations, modifies asylum procedures to allow denial of asylum to members of terrorist organizations, and alters criminal procedures for aliens.
In altering the criminal procedures for aliens, the law created a new system of secret evidence which allows the government to introduce classified information as evidence without disclosing the specifics of the evidence to the alien or their legal counsel. It also expands the criteria for deportation for crimes of moral turpitude.
Title V - Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons Restrictions