A law signed by former president Bill Clinton called the “Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,” reduced new trials for convicted criminals and sped up their sentences by restricting a federal court’s ability to judge whether a state court had correctly interpreted the U.S. Constitution.” The law has been cited as one of the major obstacles that prevented Davis from being granted a new trial.
Despite the fact that Clinton’s law helped prevent Davis from being given a chance for his case to be reviewed by federal authorities, Clinton recently said in regards to the Davis case that if any DNA evidence or physical evidence is questionable, a review must come.
“In any case where there’s any chance that any DNA evidence could change the outcome of the trial — I think that — this is just me now — I think that the appeals process has to be slowed down and organized so that any evidence of innocence can always be presented and then acted upon,” said Clinton.