Baldwin v. Reese, No. 02-964.
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | Breyer |
| Citation | 541 U.S. 27 |
| Parties | BALDWIN v. REESE. |
| Docket Number | No. 02-964. |
| Decision Date | 02 March 2004 |
v.
REESE.
Before seeking federal habeas relief, a state prisoner must exhaust available state remedies, 28 U. S. C. § 2254(b)(1), giving the State the "`opportunity to . . . correct' alleged violations of its prisoners' federal rights," Duncan v. Henry, 513 U. S. 364, 365, which means he must "fairly present" his claim in each appropriate state court to alert that court to the claim's federal nature. After respondent Reese appealed his state convictions and sentences and the lower state courts denied him collateral relief, the Oregon Supreme Court denied him discretionary review. His subsequent federal habeas petition raised, inter alia, a federal constitutional ineffective-assistance-of-appellate-counsel claim. The Federal District Court held that Reese had not "fairly presented" this claim to the state courts because his state appeals court brief had not indicated that he was complaining about a federal law violation. The Ninth Circuit reversed, finding the "fair presentation" requirement satisfied because the State Supreme Court justices had had the opportunity to read the lower court decision before deciding whether to grant discretionary review. And, had they read that opinion, they would have, or should have, realized that his claim rested upon federal law.
Held: A state prisoner ordinarily does not "fairly present" a federal claim to a state court if that court must read beyond a petition, a brief, or similar papers to find material that will alert it to the presence of such a claim. Pp. 30-34.
(a) Assuming that Reese's petition by itself did not properly alert the State Supreme Court to the federal nature of his claim, Reese failed to meet the "fair presentation" standard. To say that a petitioner "fairly presents" a federal claim when an appellate judge can discover that claim only by reading the lower court opinions is to say that those judges must read those opinions — for otherwise they would forfeit the State's opportunity to decide the claim in the first instance. Federal habeas law does not impose such a requirement. That requirement would force state appellate judges to alter their ordinary review practices, since they do not necessarily read lower court opinions in every case. And it would impose a serious burden upon those judges with discretionary review powers, whose heavy workloads would be significantly increased if they had to read through lower court opinions or briefs in every instance. Finally, the requirement is unnecessary to
[541 U.S. 28]
avoid imposing unreasonable procedural burdens upon state prisoners who may eventually seek federal habeas. A litigant can easily indicate his claim's federal law basis in a petition or brief, for example, by citing to the federal source of law on which he relies or simply labeling the claim "federal." Pp. 30-32.
(b) This Court is not wrong to assume that Reese's petition by itself failed to alert the State Supreme Court to his claim's federal nature. He must concede that his petition does not explicitly say that "ineffective assistance of appellate counsel" refers to a federal claim, cite any case that might have alerted the court to his claim's alleged federal nature, or even contain a factual description supporting his claim. Reese asserts that the petition nonetheless "fairly presents" a federal "ineffective assistance" claim because (1) "ineffective" is a term of art in Oregon that refers only to federal law claims, and (2) the state-law standards for adjudicating state and federal "inadequate/ineffective appellate assistance" claims are identical. This Court rejects his first argument because he has not demonstrated that state law uses "ineffective assistance" as referring only to a federal-law, rather than a similar state-law, claim. However, Reese's second argument was not addressed by, or presented to, the Ninth Circuit, and first appeared here in Reese's merits brief. Because the issue is complex and lower court consideration would help in its resolution, the Court, without expressing any view on the issue's merits, exercises its Rule 15.2 discretion and deems the argument waived. Pp. 32-34.
282 F. 3d 1184, reversed.
BREYER, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which REHNQUIST, C. J., and O'CONNOR, SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, THOMAS, and GINSBURG, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 34.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT.
Hardy Myers, Attorney General of Oregon, argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Peter Shepherd, Deputy Attorney General, Mary H. Williams, Solicitor General, and Janet A. Klapstein and Robert B. Rocklin, Assistant Attorneys General.
Dennis N. Balske, by appointment of the Court, 540 U. S. 806, argued the cause for respondent.*
[541 U.S. 29]
JUSTICE BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court.
Before seeking a federal writ of habeas corpus, a state prisoner must exhaust available state remedies, 28 U. S. C. § 2254(b)(1), thereby giving the State the "`"opportunity to pass upon and correct" alleged violations of its prisoners' federal rights.'" Duncan v. Henry, 513 U. S. 364, 365 (1995) (per curiam) (quoting Picard v. Connor, 404 U. S. 270, 275 (1971)). To provide the State with the necessary "opportunity," the prisoner must "fairly present" his claim in each appropriate state court (including a state supreme court with powers of discretionary review), thereby alerting that court to the federal nature of the claim. Duncan, supra, at 365-366; O'Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U. S. 838, 845 (1999). This case focuses upon the requirement of "fair presentation."
Michael Reese, the respondent, appealed his state-court kidnaping and attempted sodomy convictions and sentences through Oregon's state court system. He then brought collateral relief proceedings in the state courts (where he was represented by appointed counsel). After the lower courts denied him collateral relief, Reese filed a petition for discretionary review in the Oregon Supreme Court.
The petition made several different legal claims. In relevant part, the petition asserted that Reese had received "ineffective assistance of both trial court and appellate court counsel." App. 47. The petition added that "his imprisonment
is in violation of [Oregon state law]." Id., at 48. It said that his trial counsel's conduct violated several provisions of the...
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Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, No. 11–1059.
...We, therefore, assume, without deciding, that petitioners' Rule 68 offer mooted respondent's individual claim. See Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 34, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004).III We turn, then, to the question whether respondent's action remained justiciable based on the collec......
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Moore v. Quarterman, Civil No. SA-03-CA-405-RF.
...thereby giving the State the opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of its prisoners' federal rights. Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 29, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 1349, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004); O'Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 842, 119 S.Ct. 1728, 1731, 144 L.Ed.2d 1 (1999); Dunca......
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Almon v. Ryan, No. CV-12-00704-TUC-BGM
...doctrine gives the State "the opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of its prisoners' federal rights." Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 29, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 1349, 158 L.Ed. 2d 64 (2004) (internal quotations omitted). Moreover, "[t]he exhaustion doctrine is principally designe......
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Avila v. Clarke, Civil Action No. 10–11800–RGS.
...835 F.2d 6, 7 (1st Cir.1987), and cases cited. “It is not enough that the same facts underlay the claims.” Id. See also Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 31–32, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 1351, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004). A “petitioner's failure to present his federal constitutional claim to the state courts ......
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Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, No. 11–1059.
...We, therefore, assume, without deciding, that petitioners' Rule 68 offer mooted respondent's individual claim. See Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 34, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004).III We turn, then, to the question whether respondent's action remained justiciable based on the collec......
-
Moore v. Quarterman, Civil No. SA-03-CA-405-RF.
...thereby giving the State the opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of its prisoners' federal rights. Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 29, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 1349, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004); O'Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 842, 119 S.Ct. 1728, 1731, 144 L.Ed.2d 1 (1999); Dunca......
-
Almon v. Ryan, No. CV-12-00704-TUC-BGM
...doctrine gives the State "the opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of its prisoners' federal rights." Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 29, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 1349, 158 L.Ed. 2d 64 (2004) (internal quotations omitted). Moreover, "[t]he exhaustion doctrine is principally designe......
-
Avila v. Clarke, Civil Action No. 10–11800–RGS.
...835 F.2d 6, 7 (1st Cir.1987), and cases cited. “It is not enough that the same facts underlay the claims.” Id. See also Baldwin v. Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 31–32, 124 S.Ct. 1347, 1351, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004). A “petitioner's failure to present his federal constitutional claim to the state courts ......