Nowakowski v. Maroney

Citation18 L.Ed.2d 282,87 S.Ct. 1197,386 U.S. 542
Decision Date10 April 1967
Docket NumberNo. 222,222
PartiesEdward John NOWAKOWSKI, Petitioner, v. James F. MARONEY, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Daniel J. O'Hern, for petitioner.

William E. Pfadt, Erie, Pa., for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

The petitioner, a prisoner in the Pennsylvania penal system, sought a writ of habeas corpus from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He alleged, among other things, that his appointed counsel in the state trial which resulted in his conviction had been ineffective, and that he had therefore been denied the aid and assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Constitution. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799. The District Court granted Nowakowski a hearing and appointed a lawyer to assist him. Following the hearing and '(v)iewing the record of the trial and the habeas corpus hearing as a whole' the court concluded that Pennsylvania 'cannot be convicted of denying effective aid and assistance of counsel to the relator * * *.' However, the District Judge issued the certificate of probable cause necessary to allow a person in state custody to appeal a denial of federal habeas corpus. 28 U.S.C. § 2253.

The lawyers who assisted the petitioner at the habeas hearing were then allowed to withdraw by the District Court. Nowakowski subsequently petitioned the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to allow him to appeal in forma pauperis from the District Court's denial of relief. He also asked to be allowed to proceed in the Court of Appeals on written briefs and sought the appointment of counsel. That court denied the petition in the following order:

'Upon consideration of appellant's petition for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and to file handwritten briefs; and for appointment of counsel in the above-entitled case;

'It is ORDERED that the petition be and it hereby is denied.'

Following the Third Circuit's denial of Nowakowski's petition for rehearing, he sought a writ of certiorari from this Court. It was granted, as was his motion to proceed in forma pauperis. 384 U.S. 984, 86 S.Ct. 1893, 16 L.Ed.2d 1003.

We hold that the Court of Appeals erred in denying the petitioner the right to appeal after the District Judge had issued a § 2253 certificate of probable cause. It is established law that a circuit judge or justice entertaining an application for a certificate should give 'weighty...

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35 cases
  • Gonzalez v. Thaler
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • January 10, 2012
    ...of gamesmanship"? The Court's free-wheeling purposivism defies textual analysis.8 We held in Nowakowski v. Maroney, 386 U.S. 542, 543, 87 S.Ct. 1197, 18 L.Ed.2d 282 (1967)(per curiam), that "when a district judge grants [a certificate of probable cause], the court of appeals must grant an a......
  • Barefoot v. Estelle
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • July 6, 1983
    ...in this Court's cases, such as Garrison v. Patterson, 391 U.S. 464, 88 S.Ct. 1687, 20 L.Ed.2d 744 (1968), Nowakowski v. Maroney, 386 U.S. 542, 87 S.Ct. 1197, 18 L.Ed.2d 282 (1967), and Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 1556, 20 L.Ed.2d 554 (1968), were satisfied. As the court unde......
  • Carafas v. Vallee
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • May 20, 1968
    ...because of facts to which we later refer, the Court of Appeals' dismissal conformed to our holding in Nowakowski v. Maroney, 386 U.S. 542, 87 S.Ct. 1197, 18 L.Ed.2d 282 (1967). But first we must consider the State's contention that this case is now moot because petitioner has been unconditi......
  • Hunter v. U.S.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • December 10, 1996
    ...Chi. L.Rev. at 144 n. 9 (referring to "cases where the district court has issued a certificate, and under Nowakowski v. Maroney, 586 U.S. 542 [87 S.Ct. 1197, 18 L.Ed.2d 282] (1967), the court of appeals has been obliged to hear the appeal although it believed the certificate was improvident......
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