SWAIN, REFORMATORY SUPERINTENDENT v. PRESSLEY
No. 75-811
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 19, 1977—Decided March 22, 1977
430 U.S. 372
Solicitor General Bork argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief were Assistant Attorney General Thornburgh, Deputy Solicitor General Frey, Mark L. Evans, Paul L. Friedman, Shirley Baccus-Lobel, and Joseph S. Davies, Jr.
Mark W. Foster argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Robert M. Weinberg and Frederick H. Weisberg.
MR. JUSTICE STEVENS delivered the opinion of the Court.
Respondent is in custody pursuant to a sentence imposed by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.1 He has filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia asking that court to review the constitutionality of the proceedings that
“An application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a prisoner who is authorized to apply for relief by motion pursuant to this section shall not be entertained by the Superior Court or by any Federal or State court if it appears that the applicant has failed to make a
motion for relief under this section or that the Superior Court has denied him relief, unless it also appears that the remedy by motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention.”5 (Emphasis added.)
On the authority of this provision, the District Court dismissed respondent‘s application.6 The Court of Appeals reversed. Largely because of its doubts concerning the constitutionality of a statutory curtailment of the District Court‘s jurisdiction to issue writs of habeas corpus, the Court of Appeals construed the statute as merely requiring exhaustion of local remedies before a habeas corpus petition could be filed in the District Cоurt.7 The Court of Appeals, unlike
I
There are two reasons why
First, the statute expressly covers the situation in which the apрlicant has exhausted his local remedies, and requires that the application be denied in such a case. The statute provides that the application “shall not be entertained . . . by any Federal . . . court if it appears that . . . the Superior Court has denied [the applicant] relief.” This unequivocal statutory command to federal courts not to entertain an application for habeas corpus after the applicant has been denied collateral relief in the Superior Court, is squarely at odds with the Court of Appeals’ view that the statute deals only with the procedure the applicant must follow before he may request relief in the District Court.
Second, the language of
Notwithstanding the desirability of adopting a construction of the statute which wоuld avoid the constitutional issue raised by respondent, we are convinced that the language of
Respondent argues12 that
“The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not
failed to make a motion for relief” to the Superior Court or if “the Superior Court has denied him relief . . . .” Thus, the language of United States v. Sullivan, 332 U. S. 689, 693, is applicable:
“A restrictive interpretation should not be given a statute merely because Congress has chosen to depart from custom or because giving effect to the express language employed by Congress might require a court tо face a constitutional question. And none of the foregoing cases, nor any other on which they relied, authorizes a court in interpreting a statute to depart from its clear meaning. When it is reasonably plain that Congress meant its Act to prohibit certain conduct, no one of the above references justifies a distortion of the congressional purpose, not even if the clearly correct purpose makes marked deviations from custom or leads inevitably to a holding of constitutional invalidity.”
be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
His argument is made in two steps: (1) that the substitution of a remedy that is not “exactly commensurate” with habeas corpus relief available in a district court is a suspension of the writ within the meaning of the Clause; and (2) that because the judges of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia do not enjoy the life tenure and salary protection which are guaranteed to district judges by
The Government disputes both propositions. First, it contends that the constitutional provision merely prohibits suspension of the writ as it was being used when the Constitution was adopted; at that time the writ was not employed in collateral attacks on judgments entered by courts of competent jurisdiction.13 Second, it contends that the procedure authorized by
of jurisdiction over “habeas corpus” as part of the overall transfer of local jurisdiction. Id., at 14. For a discussion of the numerous and important purposes behind the enactment of
“In a case where the
Section 2255 procedure is shown to be ‘inadequate or ineffective,’ the Section provides that the habeas corpus remedy shall remain open to afford the necessary hearing. Under such circumstances, we do not reach constitutional questions.” 342 U. S., at 223 (footnote omitted).
The Court implicitly held in Hayman, as we hold in this case, that the substitution of a collateral remedy which is neither inadequate nor ineffective to test the legality of a person‘s detention does not constitute a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.
The question which remains is whether the remedy in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia created by
We are fully cognizant of the critical importance of life tenure, particularly when judges are required to vindicate the constitutional rights of persons who have been found guilty of criminal offenses.16 The relationshiр between life tenure and judicial independence was vigorously explained by Mr. Justice Douglas in his dissenting opinion in Palmore v. United States, 411 U. S. 389, 410-422. But, as the Court held in that case, the Constitution does not require that all persons charged
commensurate with that which had previously been available by habeas corpus in the court of the district where the prisoner was confined.” 368 U. S., at 427 (emphasis added). See also United States v. Hayman, 342 U. S., at 219.
This conclusion is consistent with the settled view that elected judges of our state courts are fully competent to decide federal constitutional issues, and that their decisions must be respected by federal district judges in processing hаbeas corpus applications pursuant to
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.
It is so ordered.
MR. JUSTICE POWELL, concurring.
I concur in the opinion of the Court. In view, however, of the separate opinion filed today by THE CHIEF JUSTICE, I write merely to make clear that I do not read Part II of the Court‘s opinion as being incompatible with the views I have expressed previously with respect tо the nature and scope of habeas corpus. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S. 218, 250 (1973) (POWELL, J., concurring).
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER, with whom MR. JUSTICE BLACKMUN and MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST join, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
I join Part I of the Court‘s opinion and concur in the Court‘s judgment. However, I find it unnecessary to examine the adequacy of the remedy provided by
The sweep of the Suspension Clause must be measured by reference to the intention of the Framers and their understanding of what the writ of habeas сorpus meant at the time the Constitution was drafted. The scope of the writ during the 17th and 18th centuries has been described as follows:
“[O]nce a person had been convicted by a superior court of general jurisdiction, a court disposing of a habeas corpus petition could not go behind the conviction for any purpose other than to verify the formal jurisdiction of the
committing court.” Oaks, Legal History in the High Court—Habeas Corpus, 64 Mich. L. Rev. 451, 468 (1966).
Thus, at common law, the writ was available (1) to compel adherence to prescribed procedures in advance of trial; (2) to inquire into the cause of commitment not pursuant to judicial process; and (3) to inquire whether a committing court had proper jurisdiction. The writ in 1789 was not considered “a means by which one court of general jurisdiction exercises post-conviction review over the judgment of another court of like authority.” Id., at 451.
Dicta to the contrary in Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391 (1963), have since been shown to be based on an incorrect view of the historic functions of habeas corpus. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S. 218, 252-256 (1973) (POWELL, J., concurring). The fact is that in defining the scope of federal collateral remedies the Court has invariably engaged in statutory interpretation, construing what Congress has actually provided, rather than what it constitutionally must provide. See Developments in the Law—Federal Habeas Corpus, 83 Harv. L. Rev. 1038, 1268 (1970). Judge Friendly has expressed this view clearly:
“It can scarcely be doubted that the writ protected by the suspension clause is the writ as known to the framers, not as Congress may have chosen to expand it or, more pertinently, as the Supreme Court has interpreted what Congress did.” Friendly, Is Innocence Irrelevant? Collateral Attack on Criminal Judgments, 38 U. Chi. L. Rev. 142, 170 (1970) (footnote omitted).
Since I do not believe that the Suspension Clause requires Congress to provide a federal remedy for collateral review of a conviction entered by a court of competent jurisdiction, I see no issue of constitutional dimension raised by the statute in question. Under this view of the case, I need not сonsider the important constitutional question whether the Suspension
Notes
“(a) A prisoner in custody under sentence of the Superior Court claiming the right tо be released upon the ground that (1) the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution of the United States or the laws of the District of Columbia, (2) the court was without jurisdiction to impose the sentence, (3) the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law, (4) the sentence is otherwise subject to collateral attack, may move the court to vacate, set aside, or correct the sentence.
“(b) A motion for such relief may be made at any time.
“(c) Unless the motion and files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief, the court shall cause notice thereof to be served upon the prosecuting authority, grant a prompt hearing thereon, determine the issues, and make findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect thereto. If the court finds that (1) the judgment was rendered without jurisdiction, (2) the sentence imposed was not authorized by law or is otherwise open to collateral attack, (3) there has been such a denial or infringement of the constitutional rights оf the prisoner as to render the judgment vulnerable to collateral attack, the court shall vacate and set the judgment aside and shall discharge the prisoner, resentence him, grant a new trial, or correct the sentence, as may appear appropriate.
“(d) A court may entertain and determine the motion without requiring the production of the prisoner at the hearing.
“(e) The court shall not be required to entertain a second or successive motion for similar reliеf on behalf of the same prisoner.
“(f) An appeal may be taken to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals from the order entered on the motion as from a final judgment on application for a writ of habeas corpus.
“(g) An application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a prisoner who is authorized to apply for relief by motion pursuant to this section shall not be entertained by the Superior Court or by any Federal or State court if it appears that the aрplicant has failed to make a motion for relief under this section or that the Superior Court has denied him relief, unless it also appears that the remedy by motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention.”
See Palmore v. United States, 411 U. S. 389, 392-393, n. 2 (1973), and Pernell v. Southall Realty, supra, at 367-368, for a description of the statute and its background. Prior to reorganization, the jurisdiction of the local District of Columbia courts was extremely circumscribed. In regard to criminal cases, for instanсe, the local courts had jurisdiction only over misdemeanors and petty offenses, and this jurisdiction was concurrent with that of the United States District Court. This left the United States District Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit with jurisdiction over numerous local criminal and civil cases which were proving to be a great burden to those courts, diverting their energies from questions of national importance which require prompt resolution by the federal courts of the Nation‘s Capitаl. S. Rep. No. 91-405, p. 3 (1969).
The District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal Procedure Act of 1970 was designed to alleviate these burdens by transferring general jurisdiction over local matters to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and all appeals from that court to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (“the Highest Court of the District“), thus creating a system of courts analogous to those found in the States. “This transfer will bring the jurisdiction of the U. S. Courts in the District of Columbia in line with the jurisdiction exercised by the Federal courts in the sevеral States, and will give the local courts jurisdiction over all purely local matters.” S. Rep. No. 91-405, supra, at 5.
The comparable section,
“An application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a prisoner who is authorized to apply for relief by motion pursuant to this section, shall not be entertained if it appears that the applicant has failed to apply for relief, by motion, to the court which sentenced him, or that such court has denied him relief, unless it also appears that the remedy by motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention.”
The Court of Appeals in Palmore, supra, at 328, 515 F. 2d, at 1299, gave special regard to “the principle of constitutional adjudication which makes it decisive in the choice of fair alternatives that one construction [which] may raise serious constitutional questions [be] avoided by another.” United States v. Rumely, 345 U. S. 41, 45 (emphasis added). Along the same vein, Mr. Chief Justice Hughes has noted, “if a serious doubt of constitutionality is raised, it is a cardinal principle that this Court will first ascertain whether a construction of the statute is fairly possible by which the question may be avoided.” Crowell v. Benson, 285 U. S. 22, 62 (emphasis added). Both of these referenсes to that “cardinal principle” of statutory construction contain the caveat that resort to an alternative construction to avoid deciding a constitutional question is appropriate only when such a course is “fairly possible” or when the statute provides a “fair alternative” construction.
Here the statute could not be more plain. It prohibits “any Federal . . . court” from entertaining a writ of habeas corpus if the applicant “has
The Court below in Palmore, 169 U. S. App. D. C., at 333-335, 515 F. 2d, at 1304-1306, also suggested the possibility that
A rational basis for the classification is found in the purpose behind the Court Reform Act. As one proponent of the Act noted, the Act “establishes a complete court system [for the District of Columbia] . . . . It includes transfer of all, not some, ‘local’ jurisdiction to the new court,” the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, thus maximizing “the potential of the cоurts” and minimizing “overlapping jurisdiction.” Statement of Associate Deputy Attorney General Santarelli, Hearings on Court Reorganization, Criminal Law Procedures, Bail, and Public Defender Service, before Subcommittee No. 1 of the House Committee on the District of Columbia, 91st Cong., 1st Sess., 13 (1969, pt. 1). He saw the transfer