Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Panel Rejects Bid for Warrantless Searches

The House Judiciary Committee, drafting an anti-crime package, rejected a Bush Administration proposal to allow the use in court of evidence seized in warrantless searches if federal agents or police thought they were acting in good faith. Instead, the panel adopted a provision allowing the use of improperly seized evidence if agents who executed a search warrant thought they were following proper procedure. In another blow to the Administration’s anti-crime program, the U.S. Judicial Conference opposed a plan to sharply limit appeals to federal courts by prisoners on state Death Rows.