Well, we're certainly going to disagree about whether the AEDPA is good law or not. I happen to think it abridges liberties, but that's beside the point. The point is that its passage was very much in response to the Oklahoma City Bombings, even if its legacy today has to do with habeas petitions.

See this:

"But within weeks of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Senate voted 91 to 8 to pass the Comprehensive Terrorism Protection Act of 1995, which cut back sharply on state death-row inmates’ access to federal court. This bill eventually morphed into the broader Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which President Clinton signed shortly after the first anniversary of the bombing. Standing on the south lawn of the White House, in the presence of family members of the victims of Oklahoma City and other recent terrorist incidents, the president declared that the new law “strikes a mighty blow” against terrorism." [1]

And also [2], which notes that a draft of the AEDPA also contained additional surveillance powers, among other things.

I'd definitely call the AEDPA a knee jerk reaction.

[1] http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/homegrown-hu...

[2] http://books.google.com/books?id=H_RrLyV9rDUC&lpg=PA31&#...