NCJ Number
110054
Date Published
1988
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This statement presents the views of the U.S. Department of Justice on the need to reform 28 U.S.C. 2254, the statute conferring habeas corpus jurisdiction on the Federal Government and enabling lower Federal courts to review State court criminal convictions.
Abstract
The statement points to the many abuses of the habeas corpus statute in capital cases. The abuses have resulted in obstruction and delay and the observation that 'there is no end to the litigation of a criminal conviction.' First, the statement summarizes the historical development of Federal habeas corpus jurisdiction and concludes that the current statutory remedy granting lower Federal courts the right to review State court judgments has no relation to the traditional writ of habeas corpus whose suspension is prohibited by the Constitution. The statement points out that Congress has the discretion to determine whether State prisoners should have a postconviction remedy in the lower Federal courts. Second, the statement discusses the abuses resulting from expansive habeas corpus review and rebuts the argument that the interests of justice require the current broad scope of review of State court judgments. Third, the statement points to precedent enabling Congress to restrict the scope of Federal habeas corpus in order to curb the general problem of habeas corpus abuse and the more particular problem of capital case abuse. Fourth, the statement discusses Title II of the proposed Criminal Justice Reform Act, legislation that would reform the current habeas corpus statute and effectively respond to problems of abuse and delay. 49 footnotes.