The Judicial Conference of the United States, the policy making body of the nation’s federal judges, wrote a strong letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing parts of the Streamlined Procedures Act (S.1088) that would curtail death penalty appeals. The bill is scheduled to be marked up by the Committee on Thursday, September 29. The judges said the bill could “create unreasonable obstacles to resolution” of death penalty cases, and that it could “undermine the traditional role of the federal courts to hear and decide the merits of claims arising under the Constitution.” The bill has also been opposed by the American Bar Association, the Conference of (State) Chief Justices, and many former prosecutors. (Los Angeles Times, Sept. 28, 2005). See New Voices. See also The Constitution Project for more information on S.1088.