Law Commons^™

Petitions From The Grave: Why Federal Executions Are A Violation Of The Suspension Clause, Taran Wessells

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Note will address the intersection of wrongful convictions, the federal death penalty, and habeas corpus to conclude that the federal death penalty is an unconstitutional violation of the Suspension Clause of the United States Constitution. Part I of this Note will establish that Congress may not suspend the writ of habeas corpus outside of wartime. Then, Part II will show that wrongfully convicted prisoners therefore have a constitutional right to a habeas petition if they discover new, exonerating evidence. Part III will argue that because executed prisoners cannot file a habeas petition for release, executing wrongfully convicted prisoners is …

The Original Meaning Of The Habeas Corpus Suspension Clause, The Right Of Natural Liberty, And Executive Discretion, John Harrison

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The Habeas Corpus Suspension Clause of Article I, Section 9, is primarily a limit on Congress’s authority to authorize detention by the executive. It is not mainly concerned with the remedial writ of habeas corpus, but rather with the primary right of natural liberty. Suspensions of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus are statutes that vest very broad discretion in the executive to decide which individuals to hold in custody. Detention of combatants under the law of war need not rest on a valid suspension, whether the combatant is an alien or a citizen of the United States. …

Habeas Corpus Petitions In Federal And Tribal Courts: A Search For Individualized Justice, Carrie E. Garrow

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Historically Unappealing: Boumediene V. Bush, Appellate Avoidance Mechanisms, And Black Holes Extending Beyond Guantanamo Bay, Dennis Schmelzer

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Is Guilt Dispositive? Federal Habeas After Martinez, Justin F. Marceau

William & Mary Law Review

Federal habeas review of criminal convictions is not supposed to be a second opportunity to adjudge guilt. Oliver Wendell Holmes, among others, has said that the sole question on federal habeas is whether the prisoner’s constitutional rights were violated. By the early 1970s, however, scholars criticized this rights-based view of habeas and sounded the alarm that postconviction review had become too far removed from questions of innocence. Most famously, in 1970 Judge Friendly criticized the breadth of habeas corpus by posing a single question: Is innocence irrelevant? In his view habeas review that focused exclusively on questions of rights in …

Shadowing The Flag: Extending The Habeas Writ Beyond Guantanamo, Dawinder S. Sidhu

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The writ of habeas corpus activates courts’ duty to check arbitrary or unlawful restraints by the Executive on individual liberty. In times of war, courts have been compelled to determine whether the writ is available to individuals held by the Executive outside of the territorial boundaries of the United States. In Johnson v. Eisentrager, in which World War II detainees were held in Germany, the Supreme Court answered in the negative, while in Boumediene v. Bush, involving post–9/11 detainees housedat Guantánamo, the Court reached the opposite conclusion. Operating within these two guideposts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District …

How Wide Should The Actual Innocence Gateway Be? An Attempt To Clarify The Miscarriage Of Justice Exception For Federal Habeas Corpus Proceedings, Jennifer Gwynne Case

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Initiating A New Constitutional Dialogue: The Increased Importance Under Aedpa Of Seeking Certiorari From Judgments Of State Courts, Giovanna Shay, Christopher Lasch

William & Mary Law Review

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) contains a provision restricting federal courts from considering any authority other than holdings of the Supreme Court in determining whether to grant a state prisoner's petition for habeas corpus. Through an empirical study of cert filings and cases decided by the Supreme Court, we assess this provision's impact on the development of federal constitutional criminal doctrine. Before AEDPA and other restrictions on federal habeas corpus, lower federal courts and state courts contributed to doctrinal development by engaging in a "dialogue" (as described by Robert M. Cover and T. Alexander Aleinikoff in a …

Killing Roger Coleman: Habeas, Finality, And The Innocence Gap, Todd E. Pettys

William & Mary Law Review

For the past fifteen years, the execution of Roger Coleman has served as perhaps the most infamous illustration of the U.S. Supreme Court's determination to help the states achieve finality in their criminal cases. Convicted of rape and murder in 1982, Coleman steadfastly maintained his innocence and drew many supporters to his cause. In its 1991 ruling in Coleman v. Thompson, however, the Court refused to consider the constitutional claims raised in Coleman's habeas petition. The Court ruled that Coleman had forfeited his right to seek habeas relief when, in prior state proceedings, his attorneys mistakenly filed their notice of …

The Role Of Article Iii Courts In The War On Terrorism, Tung Yin

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Rasul V. Bush: Unanswered Questions, Randolph N. Jonakait

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Aedpa Deference And The Undeveloped State Factual Record: Monroe V. Angelone And New Evidence, Rachel E. Wheeler

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Parity, Michael E. Solimine

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Extraordinary Execution Of Billy Vickers, The Banality Of Death, And The Demise Of Post-Conviction Review, David R. Dow, Jim Marcus, Morris Moon, Jared Tyler, Greg Wiercioch

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of Words: Habeas Corpus Reform, The Antiterrorism And Effective Death Penalty Act, And When A Judgment Of Conviction Becomes Final For The Purposes Of 28 U.S.C. 2255(1), Benjamin R. Orye Iii

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lynching And The Law In Georgia Circa 1931: A Chapter In The Legal Career Of Judge Elbert Tuttle, Anne S. Emanuel

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Elbert Parr Tuttle joined the federal bench in 1954, shortly after the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education. In 1960, he became the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the court with jurisdiction over most of the deep south. As Chief Judge, he forged a jurisprudence that proved effective in overcoming the intransigence and outright rebellion of those who had long denied fundamental constitutional rights to African Americans.

This Essay traces an episode that occurred in 1931, when Tuttle spearheaded an effort to obtain a fair trial for John Downer, a …

Herrera V. Collins: The Gateway Of Innocence For Death-Sentenced Prisoners Leads Nowhere, Vivian Berger

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Harmless Error In Federal Habeas Corpus After Brecht V. Abrahamson, John H. Blume, Stephen P. Garvey

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annulment Of The Wedding Decision: Statutory Revision To Extend Use Of Federal Magistrates In Habeas Corpus Proceedings

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Habeas Corpus: Limitations On Successive Applications From The Same Prisoner, Richard A. Williamson

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Post-Conviction Remedies And Federal Habeas Corpus, William F. Swindler

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Preludes To Gideon, George D. Horning Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.