Article
Federal Habeas Corpus and Systemic Official Misconduct: Why Form Trumps Constitutional Rights
Kansas Law Review
(2017)
Abstract
This article discusses the substantial issues surrounding the AEDPA’s deference standard when an inmate raises constitutional claims of state actors acting improperly. Specifically, federal courts should not give deference to state court merits rulings when based on systemic official misconduct. Often, state courts struggle with applying federal constitutional jurisprudence in collateral proceedings. They fail to permit discovery or evaluate the claims as federal courts have established is required. Because the pattern of police or prosecutorial malfeasance keeps critical information from the inmate, state actors should not benefit from the AEDPA’s intent for high deference to state court findings. This is especially true when state appellate procedure fails to give a full and fair opportunity to develop the claim. Instead, the federal court should review these claims de novo or review them under the looser framework of § 2254(d)(2), which is rarely used.
Part Two of this article examines the history of the deference standard as evaluated by various habeas scholars. This discussion focuses on the Supreme Court’s problematic interpretation of the deference standard, and examines why the state review process should not be given deference. The third part defines what official misconduct is, the prevalence of that misconduct, and the limitations on state courts in fixing their own mistakes. The fourth section of this article discusses how federal courts should avail themselves of (d)(2) deference review, which provides some means of assessing whether the state proceedings were full and fair. Doing so protects not only the original intent of the Great Writ but ensures the protections of individual rights from unconstitutional overreaching by errant police and prosecutors.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Fall 2017
Citation Information
Tiffany R Murphy. "Federal Habeas Corpus and Systemic Official Misconduct: Why Form Trumps Constitutional Rights" Kansas Law Review Vol. 66 (2017) p. 1 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tiffany_murphy1/10/