BY MAURICE WILLIAMS

In a move that restricts many democratic rights, U.S. president William Clinton signed a broad "antiterrorism" bill into law April 24. The legislation strengthens the government's ability to arbitrarily ban or deport those it does not want to allow into the United States. It also places greater restrictions on the rights of prisoners, particularly the right to habeas corpus appeals - often the only recourse for inmates sentenced to death.

The bill, adopted by the Senate April 17 and by the House a day later, authorizes the government to ban from the United States individuals from other countries who have links to organizations branded as "terrorist" by Washington, even if there is no evidence they broke any laws. It calls for the prosecution of anyone in the United States accused of raising funds for any such organization. The bill would allow the government to deport those accused of terrorism without presenting a judge with the evidence used against them.

Other provisions drastically curtail the rights of immigrants seeking asylum in the United States. The bill requires immigrants arriving without documents to have their asylum claims heard by a single Immigration and Naturalization Service officer; current law requires a hearing before an immigration judge. In a change affecting thousands, any undocumented immigrant already in the United States may be summarily deported without judicial review. Currently immigrants are entitled to a deportation hearing that includes rights such as legal representation.

A step-up in convictions and executions is expected with the adoption of the so-called counterterrorism bill. Death row inmates would generally be given six months after their final state court proceeding to file a habeas corpus petition - a suit that allows federal judges to hear any cases of violations of a person's constitutional rights. Prisoners not on death row would be given one year to file the petition. Currently there is no time limit on such appeals.

These deadlines only apply to inmates who are being represented by a court-appointed attorney. Blacks and other working people inside prison walls generally have to rely on such public defenders.

The bill would also prohibit a federal judge from overturning a conviction unless the state court's factual determination was "unreasonable"; if it involved an "unreasonable application" of clearly established law; or if the state court's decision was "contrary to clearly established" federal law as determined by the Supreme Court. Another draconian provision in the measure would mandate inmates convicted on federal charges to pay restitution to their accusers, imposing punishment on them indefinitely.

The passage of the bill was accompanied by extensive media interviews with relatives of those killed in the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building one year ago.

"The bill marks an historic expansion of Federal law- enforcement authority at the expense of civil liberties," Gregory Nojeim, legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union, told the New York Times. Nojeim said the bill virtually insures that a person wrongly convicted would never "get his day in court to prove his innocence."  
 
 
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