Jeffries v. Barksdale

• Citation: 101 S.Ct. 3149,69 L.Ed.2d 998,453 U.S. 914
• Decision Date: 29 June 1981
• Docket Number: No. 80-6620,80-6620
• Parties: Bobbie Lee JEFFRIES v. Gene BARKSDALE, Sheriff
• Court: United States Supreme Court

453 U.S. 914

101 S.Ct. 3149

69 L.Ed.2d 998

Bobbie Lee JEFFRIES

v Gene BARKSDALE, Sheriff

No. 80-6620

Supreme Court of the United States

June 29, 1981

On petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.

Justice REHNQUIST, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE and Justice POWELL join, dissenting.

If this case were properly before the Court I would have no difficulty in joining my Brethren in denying the petition for writ of certiorari. It is clear to me, however, that under the applicable statutes we have no jurisdiction to entertain the petition. Accordingly, I would dismiss for want of jurisdiction.

The facts need be only briefly stated. Petitioner was convicted in state court. He succeeded in obtaining a reversal of his conviction on appeal and a retrial was ordered. After several continuances were granted petitioner sought habeas corpus relief in Federal District Court, alleging that he was being denied his rights to a speedy trial. The District Court dismissed the action on the ground that petitioner had failed to exhaust available state remedies, see 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. That court agreed that petitioner had failed to exhaust available state remedies, and issued an order specifically denying petitioner's application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal. Petitioner thereupon sought from this Court a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals.

Congress has enacted a specific provision governing the right to appeal in cases such as this:

"An appeal may not be taken to the court of appeals from the final order in a habeas corpus proceeding where the detention complained of arises out of process issued by a State court, unless the justice or judge who rendered the order or a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of probable cause." 28 U.S.C. § 2253.

See also Fed.Rule App.Proc. 22(b) ("In a habeas corpus proceeding in which the detention complained of arises out of process issued by a state court, an appeal by the applicant for the writ may not proceed unless a district or a circuit judge issues a certificate of probable cause").

The effect of this statute which could not have been drafted in plainer terms, is clear: A certificate of probable cause is an indispensible prerequisite to an appeal in the courts of appeals. This has long been recognized by the courts, see, e. g., Wilson v. Lanagan, 79 F.2d 702 (CA1 1935); Hooks v. Fourth District Court of Appeal, 442 F.2d 1042 (CA5 1971), and by distinguished commentators, see, e. g., Blackmun, Allowance of In Forma Pauperis Appeals in § 2255 and Habeas Corpus Cases, 43 F.R.D. 343, 351 (1967).

When this Court was confronted with a predecessor of 28 U.S.C. § 2253 which required, in certain habeas corpus cases, a certificate of probable cause before there could be an appeal to the Supreme Court, ch. 76, 35 Stat. 40 (1908), it had no difficulty in concluding that it had no jurisdiction over appeals brought before it in the absence of such a certificate. Bilik v. Strassheim, 212 U.S. 551, 29 S.Ct. 684, 53 L.Ed. 649 (1908); Ex parte Patrick, 212 U.S. 555, 29 S.Ct. 686, 53 L.Ed. 650 (1908). The provision was amended in 1925 to provide that it "shall apply to appellate proceedings . . . as [it] heretofore [has] applied to direct appeals to the Supreme Court," 43 Stat. 940 (1925). There is therefore no jurisdiction in the courts of appeals in cases covered by 28 U.S.C. § 2253 without a certificate of probable cause.

Our certiorari jurisdiction, however, extends only to "[c]ases in the courts of appeals." 28 U.S.C. § 1254....