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Possible Reliance: Protecting Legally Innocent Johnson Claimants, Keagan Potts

Michigan Law Review

The writ of habeas corpus presents the last chance for innocent defendants to obtain relief from invalid convictions and sentences. The writ constitutes a limited exception to the finality of judgments. Given the role finality plays in conserving judicial resources and deterring criminal conduct, exceptions created by habeas must be principally circumscribed. Since the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the Armed Career Criminal Act’s residual clause in Johnson v. United States, the federal courts of appeals have attempted to develop a test that protects the writ from abuse by Johnson claimants.

This Note first contributes a new understanding of the …

A Suspended Death Sentence: Habeas Review Of Expedited Removal Decisions, Lauren Schusterman

Michigan Law Review

Expedited removal allows low-level immigration officers to summarily order the deportation of certain noncitizens, frequently with little to no judicial oversight. Noncitizens with legitimate asylum claims should not find themselves in expedited removal. When picked up by immigration authorities, they should be referred for a credible fear interview and then for more thorough proceedings.

Although there is clear congressional intent that asylum seekers not be subjected to expedited removal, mounting evidence suggests that expedited removal fails to identify bona fide asylum seekers. Consequently, many of them are sent back to persecution. Such decisions have weighty consequences, but they have remained …

Looking Backward And Forward At The Suspension Clause, G. Edward White

Michigan Law Review

Review of Amanda L. Tyler's Habeas Corpus in Wartime: From the Tower of London to Guantanamo Bay.

What Is "New"?: Defining "New Judgement" After Magwood, Patrick Cothern

Michigan Law Review

Habeas corpus petitioners must navigate the procedural barriers of the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”) before courts consider their petitions on the merits. Among the barriers imposed is a general prohibition on “second or successive” habeas petitions, meaning a petitioner who previously filed a habeas petition may not bring another, with limited exceptions. One such exception, recognized by the Supreme Court in Magwood v. Patterson, allows for a second habeas petition after the petitioner obtains a “new judgment.” Magwood and AEDPA, however, left the term “new judgment” undefined. This Note summarizes the history of habeas corpus in the …

Pinholster's Hostility To Victims Of Ineffective State Habeas Counsel, Jennifer Utrecht

Michigan Law Review

Cullen v. Pinholster foreclosed federal courts from considering new evidence when reviewing 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) petitions for claims previously adjudicated on the merits in state court. This decision has a particularly adverse effect on petitioners whose state habeas counsel left an incomplete or undeveloped record. This Note discusses strategies for victims of ineffective state habeas counsel to avoid the hostile mandate of Pinholster. It argues that, in light of Martinez v. Ryan’s recognition of the importance of counsel in initialreview collateral proceedings, courts should be wary of dismissing claims left un- or underdeveloped by ineffective state habeas counsel. It …

The Demise Of Habeas Corpus And The Rise Of Qualified Immunity: The Court's Ever Increasing Limitations On The Development And Enforcement Of Constitutional Rights And Some Particularly Unfortunate Consequences, Stephen R. Reinhardt

Michigan Law Review

The collapse of habeas corpus as a remedy for even the most glaring of constitutional violations ranks among the greater wrongs of our legal era. Once hailed as the Great Writ, and still feted with all the standard rhetorical flourishes, habeas corpus has been transformed over the past two decades from a vital guarantor of liberty into an instrument for ratifying the power of state courts to disregard the protections of the Constitution. Along with so many other judicial tools meant to safeguard the powerless, enforce constitutional rights, and hold the government accountable, habeas has been slowly eroded by a …

Rethinking The Timing Of Capital Clemency , Adam M. Gershowitz

Michigan Law Review

This Article reviews every capital clemency over the last four decades. It demonstrates that in the majority of cases, the reason for commutation was known at the conclusion of direct appeals—years or even decades before the habeas process ended. Yet when governors or pardon boards actually commuted the death sentences, they typically waited until the eve of execution, with only days or hours to spare. Leaving clemency until the last minute sometimes leads to many years of unnecessary state and federal habeas corpus litigation, and this Article documents nearly 300 years of wasted habeas corpus review. Additionally, last-minute commutations harm …

Agency And Equity: Why Do We Blame Clients For Their Lawyers' Mistakes, Adam Liptak

Michigan Law Review

If you were to ask a child whether it would be fair to execute a prisoner because his lawyer had made a mistake, the answer would be no. You might even get a look suggesting that you had asked a pretty stupid question. But judges treat the issue as a hard one, relying on a theory as casually accepted in criminal justice as it is offensive to principles of moral philosophy. This theory holds that the lawyer is the client's agent. What the agent does binds the principal. But clients and lawyers fit the agency model imperfectly. Agency law is …

Examining Presidential Power Through The Rubric Of Equity, Eric A. White

Michigan Law Review

In this Note I propose a method to examine presidents' actions taken outside the normal bounds of executive power by employing the general rubric of equity, in an attempt to find when the president acts with what I term "practical legitimacy." This would be a new category for executive actions that, while perhaps arguably illegal, are so valuable that we want to treat them as legitimate exercises of executive power. To do so, I first examine the history of equity, noting the many relevant parallels to our modern conception of executive power In light of these parallels, I argue that …

Mostly Harmless: An Analysis Of Post-Aedpa Federal Habeas Corpus Review Of State Harmless Error Determinations, Jeffrey S. Jacobi

Michigan Law Review

Sixty years ago, in Kotteakos v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that a small class of so-called harmless errors committed by courts did not require correction. The Court acknowledged that some judicial errors, though recognizable as errors, did not threaten the validity of criminal convictions and therefore did not quite require reversal. Specifically, the Court held that errors that violated federal statutes should be deemed harmless unless they had a "substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict." While Kotteakos represented the Supreme Court's first treatment of the concept of harmlessness, other courts had a …

When Constitutional Worlds Colide: Resurrecting The Framers' Bill Of Rights And Criminal Procedure, George C. Thomas Iii

Michigan Law Review

For two hundred years, the Supreme Court has been interpreting the Bill of Rights. Imagine Chief Justice John Marshall sitting in the dim, narrow Supreme Court chambers, pondering the interpretation of the Sixth Amendment right to compulsory process in United States v. Burr. Aaron Burr was charged with treason for planning to invade the Louisiana Territory and create a separate government there. To help prepare his defense, Burr wanted to see a letter written by General James Wilkinson to President Jefferson. In ruling on Burr's motion to compel disclosure, Marshall departed from the literal language of the Sixth Amendment - …

Incorporating The Suspension Clause: Is There A Constitutional Right To Federal Habeas Corpus For State Prisoners?, Jordan Steiker

Michigan Law Review

In the early 1960s, the Supreme Court adopted generous standards governing federal habeas petitions by state prisoners. At that time, the Court suggested, rather surprisingly, that its solicitude toward such petitions might be constitutionally mandated by the Suspension Clause, the only provision in the Constitution that explicitly refers to the "Writ of Habeas Corpus." Now, thirty years later, the Court has essentially overruled those expansive rulings, and Congress has considered, though not yet enacted, further limitations on the availability of the writ. Despite these significant assaults on the habeas forum, the constitutional argument appears to have been entirely abandoned. The …

Guilt: Henry Friendly Meets The Maharal Of Prague, Irene Merker Rosenberg, Yale L. Rosenberg

Michigan Law Review

So while the overnight deliberation rule is at least partially bound up with the question of reliability and relates to the judicial process itself, the broader and more fundamental issue raised by this law is whether we should free the guilty to preserve a value that we deem necessary to proper working of the criminal justice process, regardless of the culpability of individual defendants. To this Judge Friendly's answer is generally no, 113 and the MaHaRaL's is yes.

Change In The Availability Of Federal Habeas Corpus: Its Significance For State Prisoners And State Correctional Programs, Franklin J. Remington

Michigan Law Review

Expressions of dissatisfaction with state prisoner use of federal writs of habeas corpus continue. Recently Attorney General Meese was reported as telling the Judicial Conference of the Seventh Circuit: "[M]ost of the writs filed today were frivolous 'recreational activities' [by inmates whom he referred to as 'lawyers in penitentiaries'] designed to harass federal authorities." Referring to the Reagan administration's proposal pending in the United States Senate to restrict habeas corpus, Mr. Meese said the bill "would preserve the great writ for appropriate cases."

Repeated, but as yet unsuccessful, efforts have been made in the Congress to narrow the scope of …

On The Threshold Of Wainwright V Sykes: Federal Habeas Court Scrutiny Of State Procedural Rules And Rulings, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines specific problems which stand on the threshold of Wainwright v. Sykes. Resolution of these problems is necessary to determine whether a state ruling is based upon an adequate state procedural ground, requiring application of the cause-and-prejudice test before habeas review will be permitted. Part I analyzes the rationale for the rule of Wainwright v. Sykes as well as its historical underpinnings. Part II examines the treatment of state court decisions that are based both on a defaulted claim and, in the alternative, on the merits of that claim. This Part concludes that decisions containing such alternative …

Habeas Corpus: Its History And Its Future, Charles Alan Wright

Michigan Law Review

A Review of A Constitutional History of Habeas Corpus by William F. Duker

Stone V. Powell And The Effective Assistance Of Counsel, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Part I briefly identifies the considerations underlying the Stone Court's decision to limit habeas corpus review of fourth amendment claims. Part II then argues against applying Stone to the sixth amendment claim. After establishing the analytic difference between the two constitutional claims and examining Stone's "opportunity for full and fair litigation" standard, it concludes that Stone is fully consistent with free review of habeas corpus petitions alleging incompetent handling of fourth amendment questions. Finally, responding to a popular interpretation of Stone, Part II demonstrates that the possibility that ineffectiveness claims may not further the determination of a defendant's …

Post-Conviction Review In The Federal Courts For The Service-Member Not In Custody, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the availability of nonhabeas federal court review for those convicted by courts-martial. Part I discusses the function of such review and suggests a scope of review that would serve that function without unduly burdening the federal courts; Part II sketches the evolution of nonhabeas review and analyzes the jurisdictional problems surrounding its present status; Part III recommends statutory and judicial changes to make the review of courts-martial more equitable and efficient.

Habeas Corpus - Procedural Prerequisites - Motion Denied For Failure To Appeal Convicion Despite Failure Being Excusable, Harvey O. Mierke Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was convicted of robbery in a federal district court and, although represented by counsel, failed to appeal within the statutory ten-day period. Three months later he filed a motion in the same court under section 2255 of the judicial code to vacate the sentence on the ground that the conviction, because it was based on a coerced confession, was unconstitutionally obtained without due process of law. The motion was denied and the denial affirmed, in the absence of any attempt to excuse the failure to appeal. On reargument, plaintiff attempted to excuse his failure to appeal by alleging that …

Constitutional Law - Post-Conviction Due Process - Right Of Indigent To Review Of Non-Constitutional Trial Errors, Robert C. Casad S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to examine a new development. in post-conviction due process: Griffin v. Illinois. This case announces a new principle of constitutional right under the Fourteenth Amendment based on an almost indistinguishable combination of due process and equal protection elements.

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Use Of Habeas Corpus To Allow Federal Court To Review State Court Jury Determination Of Voluntariness Of Confession, Herbert R. Brown S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The prisoner had been convicted of murder in the state court. He brought a habeas corpus proceeding in federal district court to secure his release from custody on the ground that the conviction was based on a confession which was obtained by physical violence. The confession had been submitted to the jury, which was instructed to consider it only if it found that it was not obtained by duress or fear produced by threats. The district court granted the writ of habeas corpus. On appeal, held, affirmed. The district court could determine the facts of the case for itself. …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Scope Of Inquiry In Habeas Corpus Petitions From Military Prisoner, Eugene Alkema

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners, military personnel, were convicted by courts martial of rape and murder. After exhausting military appellate remedies, they petitioned federal civil courts for writs of habeas corpus on the ground that they had been convicted in proceedings denying them basic constitutional rights. The petitions were denied. On appeal, held, affirmed, two justices dissenting. When the record shows that military courts have fairly considered all of the allegations of the petitioners and have found no denial of constitutional rights, civil courts in habeas corpus proceedings will not hear evidence on the merits of the allegations. Burns v. Wilson, 346 …

Constitutional Law-Aliens-Power To Exclude And Deny Hearing, Lois H. Hambro S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In two similar cases, petitioners sought a writ of habeas corpus from federal district courts in order to obtain release from federal immigration authorities. Both were aliens who had been lawful permanent residents at the time they left the country. Mezei had allegedly gone abroad to visit his dying mother, and his return to the United States had been delayed by difficulty in securing an exit permit. Kwong Hai Chew had left the country to sail aboard a vessel of American registry, prior to which he had been screened by the United States Coast Guard. He had also served in …

Constitutional Law-Review Of State Court Determination-Supreme Court's Vacation Of State Court Judgment Without Giving Grounds For Reversal, Marcus A. Rowden S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States granted plaintiff's petition for certiorari to review a decision of the Supreme Court of California summarily denying plaintiff's application for habeas corpus. Previously the cause had been continued to enable petitioner to secure a determination of the California Supreme Court as to whether its judgment was intended to rest on an adequate independent state ground. It was later held that a letter from the clerk of that court was not a sufficient determination of that question, and petitioner was still unable to obtain that determination. Held, judgment of the Supreme Court of …

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Use Of Property And Poll Tax Lists For Selection Of Jurors, Alfred W. Blumrosen S.Ed

Michigan Law Review

Brown, a Negro, was convicted of a capital offense in Forsyth County, North Carolina. Having exhausted his state remedies, he petitioned the federal district court for a writ of habeas corpus alleging, inter alia, systematic discrimination against Negroes serving on grand and petit juries. This discrimination was claimed to result from the use of property and poll tax lists as sources from which to draw jury panels. The district court denied his petition and was affirmed by the court of appeals. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, affirmed. The use of property and poll tax lists …

International Law-Military Tribunals For The Trial Of War Criminals As International Courts, David S. Dewitt S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a German citizen confined in the American Zone of Occupied Germany in the custody of the United States Anny, petitioned the United States District Court, District of Columbia for a writ of habeas corpus. The respondents were the Secretary of Defense and others alleged to have directory control over the jailers in Germany. The petitioner had been convicted of war crimes by Military Tribunal IV at Nuremburg, Germany. This tribunal was established by order of General Clay, United States Military Governor and Zone Commander, pursuant to Control Council Law No. 10 which carried out the London Agreement and the …

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right To Counsel In State Courts, Charles Myneder

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was tried before a jury on a charge of larceny, convicted and sentenced to a penitentiary term. He did not request counsel, and the court made no offer to appoint counsel. In the course of the trial, petitioner was prejudiced by his failure to object to certain errors in evidence. In a petition for habeas corpus in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, he alleged denial of a constitutional right of counsel. On answer, it was averred that in petitioner's conduct of his own defense he displayed a "familiarity with legal process in the criminal courts." A transcript of petitioner's …

Courts-Martial--Jurisdiction Over Person Discharged And Re-Enlisted For Offense Committed During Prior Enlistment, J. D. Mcleod S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a chief petty officer in the Navy was honorably discharged on March 26, 1946, and re-enlisted on the following day. In 1947, he was tried by court-martial and convicted of cruelty, during his prior period-of service, to persons subject to his orders. The District Court sustained his writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the court-martial had no jurisdiction; the Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. On certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States, held, the court-martial had no jurisdiction to try petitioner for an offense committed prior to his discharge and re-enlistment. United. States ex …

Federal Courts-Granting Of New Trial On Initiative Of The Court, William F. Snyder S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Following conviction for violation of a federal statute, petitioner was granted his release on a writ of habeas corpus by a federal district court, on the basis of uncontroverted testimony that his counsel had not been present when the jury returned its verdict. Within ten days of this release, a motion for rehearing was filed, supported by affidavits that his counsel actually had been present. On subsequent hearing, the court set aside its former order and remanded petitioner to custody, on the theory that his release was obtained by means of a fraud on the Court. The present action was …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Conditional Pardons - Right To Notice And Hearing Upon Revocation For Breach Of Condition, Smith Warder

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was granted a pardon upon the condition that if he failed to conduct himself as a useful, upright and law-abiding citizen, he could be rearrested and reconfined at the discretion of the Governor. The Governor made an ex parte revocation and plaintiff was returned to the penitentiary. The action of the Governor was sustained in the state courts. Plaintiff brings habeas corpus in the federal court. Held, plaintiff had a constitutional right to be heard and the denial of this right was in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Fleenor v. Hammond, (C. …