Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/373/1/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 10:03:13+00:00

Document:
Arrested on a charge of robbing a federally insured bank in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) and brought into a Federal District Court, petitioner declined assistance of counsel, signed a waiver of indictment, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to imprisonment. Subsequently, he filed in the sentencing Court a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 for his release, alleging that the "indictment" was invalid, that he had been denied assistance of counsel, and that he had been intimidated and coerced into pleading guilty without counsel and without knowledge of the charges against him. This motion was denied without a hearing, on the ground that it stated only conclusions, and no facts upon which conclusions could be based; but the Court added that the files and records showed conclusively that petitioner was entitled to no relief. Later, petitioner filed a second motion under § 2255, alleging that at the time of his trial and sentence, he had been mentally incompetent as a result of narcotics administered to him while he was in jail pending trial, and he alleged specific facts in support of this claim. This motion was denied without a hearing on the ground that petitioner should have raised the issue of mental incompetency at the time of his first motion.
Held: The Court should have granted a hearing on the second motion. Pp. 373 U. S. 2-23.
in the subsequent application was determined adversely to the applicant on the prior application, (2) the prior determination was on the merits, and (3) the ends of justice would not be served by reaching the merits of the subsequent application. Pp. 373 U. S. 15-17.
(b) No matter how many prior applications for relief under § 2255 a prisoner has made, controlling weight may not be given to denial of prior applications if they were not adjudicated on the merits or if a different ground is presented by the new application. In such circumstances, consideration of the merits of the new application can be avoided only if there has been an abuse of the remedy, and this must be pleaded by the Government. Pp. 373 U. S. 17-19.
(c) In this case, the Court should have granted a hearing on the second application, because the first application was not adjudicated on the merits and the facts on which the second application was predicated were outside the record. Pp. 373 U. S. 19-20.
(d) On remand, a hearing will be required, but it will not automatically become necessary to produce petitioner at the hearing to enable him to testify. The Court will have discretion to ascertain whether the claim is substantial before granting a full evidentiary hearing, and it will be open to respondent to attempt to to show that petitioner's failure to claim mental incompetency in his first motion was an abuse of the motion remedy. Pp. 373 U. S. 20-22.
and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief. . . ." The section further provides that "[t]he sentencing court shall not be required to entertain a second or successive motion for similar relief on behalf of the same prisoner."
The petitioner is serving a 15-year sentence for robbery of a federally insured bank in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). He filed two motions under § 2255. The first alleged no facts, but only bare conclusions in support of his claim. The second, filed eight months after the first, alleged facts which, if true, might entitle him to relief. Both motions were denied, without hearing, by the District Court for the Northern District of California. On appeal from the denial of the second motion, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed. 297 F.2d 735. We granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis and certiorari. 370 U.S. 936.
On January 19 , 1959, petitioner was brought before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and was handed a copy of a proposed information charging him with the robbery. He appeared without counsel. In response to inquiries of the trial judge, petitioner stated that he wished to waive assistance of counsel and to proceed by information, rather than indictment; [Footnote 2] he signed a waiver of indictment, and then pleaded guilty to the charge in the information. On February 10, he was sentenced. Before sentence was pronounced, petitioner said to the judge: "If possible, your Honor, I would like to go to Springfield or Lexington for addiction cure. I have been using narcotics off and on for quite a while." The judge replied that he was "willing to recommend that."
"although replete with conclusions, sets forth no facts upon which such conclusions can be founded. For this reason alone, this motion may be denied without a hearing."
"sets forth nothing but unsupported charges, which are completely refuted by the files and records of this case. Since the motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief, no hearing on the motion is necessary."
No appeal was taken by the petitioner from this denial.
"As there is no reason given, or apparent to this Court, why petitioner could not, and should not, have raised the issue of mental incompetency at the time of his first motion, the Court will refuse, in the exercise of its statutory discretion, to entertain the present petition."
"Where, as here, it is apparent from the record that at the time of filing the first motion, the movant knew the facts on which the second motion is based, yet, in the second motion, set forth no reason why he was previously unable to assert the new ground, and did not allege that he had previously been unaware of the significance of the relevant facts, the district court, may, in its discretion, decline to entertain the second motion."
in the District Courts, see Bistram v. United States, 180 F.Supp. 501 (D.C.D.N.Dak.), aff'd, 283 F.2d 1 (C.A.8th Cir. 1960), and has provoked a conflict between circuits: with the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the instant case, compare, e.g., Juelich v. United States, 300 F.2d 381 (C.A.5th Cir. 1962); Smith v. United States, 106 U.S.App.D.C. 169, 270 F.2d 921 (1959). We think guidelines to the proper construction of the provision are to be found in its history.
Chambers); In re Kaine, 14 How. 103; Ex parte Cuddy, 40 F. 62, 65 (Cir.Ct.S.D.Cal.1889) (Mr. Justice Field); Frank v. Mangum, 237 U. S. 309, 237 U. S. 334; Salinger v. Loisel, 265 U. S. 224, 265 U. S. 230; Waley v. Johnston, 316 U. S. 101; United States ex rel. Accardi v. Shaughnessy, 347 U. S. 260, 347 U. S. 263, n. 4; Heflin v. United States, 358 U. S. 415, 358 U. S. 420 (opinion of Mr. Justice Stewart) (dictum); Powell v. Sacks, 303 F.2d 808 (C.A.6th Cir. 1962). Indeed, only the other day, we remarked upon "the familiar principle that res judicata is inapplicable in habeas proceedings." Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391, 372 U. S. 423.
It has been suggested, see Salinger v. Loisel, supra, at 265 U. S. 230-231, that this principle derives from the fact that at common law habeas corpus judgments were not appealable. But its roots would seem to go deeper. Conventional notions of finality of litigation have no place where life or liberty is at stake and infringement of constitutional rights is alleged. If "government [is] always [to] be accountable to the judiciary for a man's imprisonment," Fay v. Noia, supra, at 372 U. S. 402, access to the courts on habeas must not be thus impeded. The inapplicability of res judicata to habeas, then, is inherent in the very role and function of the writ.
"each application is to be disposed of in the exercise of a sound judicial discretion guided and controlled by a consideration of whatever has a rational bearing on the propriety of the discharge sought. Among the matters which may be considered, and even given controlling weight, are . . . a prior refusal to discharge on a like application."
"The action of the court or justice on the second application will naturally be affected to some degree by the character of the court or officer to whom the first application was made, and the fullness of the consideration given to it."
265 U.S. at 265 U. S. 231-232. The petitioner's successive applications were properly denied because he sought to retry a claim previously fully considered and decided against him. Similarly, nothing in § 2255 requires that a sentencing court grant a hearing on a successive motion alleging a ground for relief already fully considered on a prior motion and decided against the prisoner.
Another such situation is that which was presented in Wong Doo v. United States, 265 U. S. 239. In Wong Doo, the prisoner, in his first application for habeas corpus, tendered two grounds in support of his position. A hearing was held, but the petitioner offered no proof of his second ground, even though the return to the writ had put it in issue. Relief was denied, and the denial affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals. Later, he filed a second application relying exclusively on the second ground.
"The petitioner had full opportunity to offer proof of [the second ground] at the hearing on the first petition, and, if he was intending to rely on that ground, good faith required that he produce the proof then. To reserve the proof for use in attempting to support a later petition, if the first failed, was to make an abusive use of the writ of habeas corpus. No reason for not presenting the proof at the outset is offered. It has not been embodied in the record, but what is said of it there and in the briefs shows that it was accessible all the time."
265 U.S. at 265 U. S. 241. Similarly, the prisoner who, on a prior motion under § 2255, has deliberately withheld a ground for relief need not be heard if he asserts that ground in a successive motion; his action is inequitable -- an abuse of the remedy -- and the court may, in its discretion, deny him a hearing.
to plead abuse of the writ.
"[I]f the Government chooses not to deny the allegation [of knowing use of perjured testimony] or to question its sufficiency, and desires instead to claim that the prisoner has abused the writ of habeas corpus, it rests with the Government to make that claim with clarity and particularity in its return to the order to show cause."
Id. at 334 U. S. 292. The Court reasoned that it would be unfair to compel the habeas applicant, typically unlearned in the law and unable to procure legal assistance in drafting his application, to plead an elaborate negative.
Very shortly after the Price decision, as part of the 1948 revision of the Judicial Code, the Court's statement in Salinger of the governing principle in the treatment of a successive application was given statutory form. 28 U.S.C. § 2244. [Footnote 5] There are several things to be observed about this codification.
see pp. 373 U. S. 7-8, supra, § 2244 might raise serious constitutional questions. [Footnote 6] Cf. Fay v. Noia, supra, at 372 U. S. 406.
Second, even with respect to successive applications on which hearings may be denied because the ground asserted was previously heard and decided, as in Salinger, § 2244 is faithful to the Court's phrasing of the principle in Salinger, and does not enact a rigid rule. The judge is permitted, not compelled, to decline to entertain such an application, and then only if he "is satisfied that the ends of justice will not be served" by inquiring into the merits.
Third, § 2244 is addressed only to the problem of successive applications based on grounds previously heard and decided. It does not cover a second or successive application containing a ground "not theretofore presented and determined," and so does not touch the problem of abuse of the writ. In Wong Doo, petitioner's second ground had been presented but not determined on his prior application; § 2244 would be inapplicable in such a situation. On the other hand, § 2244 was obviously not intended to foreclose judicial application of the "abuse of writ" principle as developed in Wong Doo and Price.
"This review of the history of Section 2255 shows that it was passed at the instance of the Judicial Conference to meet practical difficulties that had arisen in administering the habeas corpus jurisdiction of the federal courts. Nowhere in the history of Section 2255 do we find any purpose to impinge upon prisoners' rights of collateral attack upon their convictions. On the contrary, the sole purpose was to minimize the difficulties encountered in habeas corpus hearings by affording the same rights in another and more convenient forum."
342 U.S. at 342 U. S. 219. (Emphasis supplied.) Accord, United States v. Morgan, 346 U. S. 502, 346 U. S. 511; Smith v. United States, 88 U.S.App.D.C. 80, 187 F.2d 192 (1950); Heflin v. United States, 358 U. S. 415, 358 U. S. 421 (opinion of Mr. Justice Stewart).
"it conclusively appears from the historic context in which § 2255 was enacted that the legislation was intended simply to provide in the sentencing court a remedy exactly commensurate with that which had previously been available by habeas corpus in the court of the district where the prisoner was confined."
Hill v. United States, 368 U. S. 424, 368 U. S. 427.
Plainly, were the prisoner invoking § 2255 faced with the bar of res judicata, he would not enjoy the "same rights" as the habeas corpus applicant, or "a remedy exactly commensurate with" habeas. Indeed, if he were subject to any substantial procedural hurdles which made his remedy under § 2255 less swift and imperative than federal habeas corpus, the gravest constitutional doubts would be engendered, as the Court in Hayman implicitly recognized. And cf. p. 373 U. S. 11-12, supra. We therefore hold that the "similar relief" provision of § 2255 is to be deemed the material equivalent of § 2244. See Smith v. United States, 106 U.S.App.D.C. 169, 173, 270 F.2d 921, 925 (1959); Longsdorf, The Federal Habeas Corpus Acts Original and Amended, 13 F.R.D. 407, 424 (1953). We are helped to this conclusion by two further considerations.
First, there is no indication in the legislative history to the 1948 revision of the Judicial Code that Congress intended to treat the problem of successive applications differently under habeas corpus than under the new motion procedure, and it is difficult to see what logical or practical basis there could be for such a distinction.
"inadequate or ineffective" remedy under § 2255, and thus be entitled to proceed in federal habeas corpus -- where, of course, § 2244 applies. See Smith v. United States, supra, 106 U.S.App.D.C. at 174, 270 F.2d at 926.
We think the judicial and statutory evolution of the principles governing successive applications for federal habeas corpus and motions under § 2255 has reached the point at which the formulation of basic rules to guide the lower federal courts is both feasible and desirable. Compare Townsend v. Sain, 372 U. S. 293, 372 U. S. 310. Since the motion procedure is the substantial equivalent of federal habeas corpus, we see no need to differentiate the two for present purposes. It should be noted that these rules are not operative in cases where the second or successive application is shown, on the basis of the application, files, and records of the case alone, conclusively to be without merit. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2243, 2255. In such a case, the application should be denied without a hearing.
Controlling weight may be given to denial of a prior application for federal habeas corpus or § 2255 relief [Footnote 8] only if (1) the same ground presented in the subsequent application was determined adversely to the applicant on the prior application, (2) the prior determination was on the merits, and (3) the ends of justice would not be served by reaching the merits of the subsequent application.
(1) By "ground," we mean simply a sufficient legal basis for granting the relief sought by the applicant. For example, the contention that an involuntary confession was admitted in evidence against him is a distinct ground for federal collateral relief. But a claim of involuntary confession predicated on alleged psychological coercion does not raise a different "ground" than does one predicated on alleged physical coercion. In other words, identical grounds may often be proved by different factual allegations. So also, identical grounds may often be supported by different legal arguments, cf. Wilson v. Cook, 327 U. S. 474, 327 U. S. 481; Dewey v. Des Moines, 173 U. S. 193, 173 U. S. 198, or be couched in different language, United States v. Jones, 194 F.Supp. 421 (D.C.D.Kan.1961) (dictum), aff'd mem., 297 F.2d 835 (C.A.10th Cir. 1962), or vary in immaterial respects, Stilwell v. United States Marshals, 192 F.2d 853 (C.A.4th Cir. 1951) (per curiam). Should doubts arise in particular cases as to whether two grounds are different or the same, they should be resolved in favor of the applicant.
(2) The prior denial must have rested on an adjudication of the merits of the ground presented in the subsequent application. See Hobbs v. Pepersack, 301 F.2d 875 (C.A.4th Cir. 1962). This means that, if factual issues were raised in the prior application, and it was not denied on the basis that the files and records conclusively resolved these issues, an evidentiary hearing was held. See Motley v. United States, 230 F.2d 110 (C.A.5th Cir. 1956); Hallowell v. United States, 197 F.2d 926 (C.A.5th Cir. 1952).
was not full and fair; we canvassed the criteria of a full and fair evidentiary hearing recently in Townsend v. Sain, supra, and that discussion need not be repeated here. If purely legal questions are involved, the applicant may be entitled to a new hearing upon showing an intervening change in the law or some other justification for having failed to raise a crucial point or argument in the prior application. Two further points should be noted. first, the foregoing enumeration is not intended to be exhaustive; the test is "the ends of justice" and it cannot be too finely particularized. Second, the burden is on the applicant to show that, although the ground of the new application was determined against him on the merits on a prior application, the ends of justice would be served by a redetermination of the ground.
No matter how many prior applications for federal collateral relief a prisoner has made, the principle elaborated in Subpart A, supra, cannot apply if a different ground is presented by the new application. So too, it cannot apply if the same ground was earlier presented but not adjudicated on the merits. In either case, full consideration of the merits of the new application can be avoided only if there has been an abuse of the writ or motion remedy; and this the Government has the burden of pleading. See p. 373 U. S. 11, supra.
conformity to the historical role of the writ of habeas corpus as an effective and imperative remedy for detentions contrary to fundamental law, the principle is unexceptionable."
Fay v. Noia, supra, at 372 U. S. 438. Thus, for example, if a prisoner deliberately withholds one of two grounds for federal collateral relief at the time of filing his first application, in the hope of being granted two hearings, rather than one, or for some other such reason, he may be deemed to have waived his right to a hearing on a second application presenting the withheld ground. The same may be true if, as in Wong Doo, the prisoner deliberately abandons one of his grounds at the first hearing. Nothing in the traditions of habeas corpus requires the federal courts to tolerate needless piecemeal litigation, to entertain collateral proceedings whose only purpose is to vex, harass, or delay.
We need not pause over the test governing whether a second or successive application may be deemed an abuse by the prisoner of the writ or motion remedy. The Court's recent opinions in Fay v. Noia, supra, at 372 U. S. 438-440, and Townsend v. Sain, supra, at 372 U. S. 317, deal at length with the circumstances under which a prisoner may be foreclosed from federal collateral relief. The principles developed in those decisions govern equally here.
reach the merits. Cf. Townsend v. Sain, supra, at 372 U. S. 312, 372 U. S. 318. We are confident that this power will be soundly applied.
"The Court has reviewed the entire file . . . which includes the previous proceeding, and a transcript of the proceedings at the time petitioner entered his plea, and . . . is of the view that petitioner's complaints are without merit in fact."
waiver of his constitutional rights. See Machibroda v. United States, 368 U. S. 487; Moore v. Michigan, 355 U. S. 155; Pennsylvania ex rel. Herman v. Claudy, 350 U. S. 116; Taylor v. United States, 193 F.2d 411 (C.A. 10th Cir. 1952). Cf. Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U. S. 708. For the facts on which petitioner's claim in his second application is predicated are outside the record. This is so even though the judge who passed on the two motions was the same judge who presided at the hearing at which petitioner made the waivers, and the later hearing at which he was sentenced. Whether or not petitioner was under the influence of narcotics would not necessarily have been apparent to the trial judge. Petitioner appeared before him without counsel, and but briefly. That the judge may have thought that he acted with intelligence and understanding in responding to the judge's inquiries cannot "conclusively show," as the statute requires, that there is no merit in his present claim. Cf. Machibroda v. United States, supra, at 368 U. S. 495. If anything, his request before sentence that the judge send him to a hospital "for addiction cure" cuts the other way. Moreover, we are advised in the Government's brief that the probation officer's report made to the judge before sentence (the report is not part of the record in this Court) disclosed that petitioner received medical treatment for withdrawal symptoms while he was in jail prior to sentencing.
"What has been said is not to imply that a movant (under § 2255) must always be allowed to appear in a district court for a full hearing if the record does not conclusively and expressly belie his claim, no matter how vague, conclusory, or palpably incredible his allegations may be. The language of the statute does not strip the district courts of all discretion to exercise their common sense. Indeed, the statute itself recognizes that there are times when allegations of facts outside the record can be fully investigated without requiring the personal presence of the prisoner. Whether the petition in the present case can appropriately be disposed of without the presence of the petitioner at the hearing is a question to be resolved in the further proceedings in the District Court. "
"There will always be marginal cases, and this case is not far from the line. But the specific and detailed factual assertions of the petitioner, while improbable, cannot at this juncture be said to be incredible. If the allegations are true, the petitioner is clearly entitled to relief. . . ."
The need for great care in criminal collateral procedure is well evidenced by the instant case. Petitioner was adjudged guilty of a crime carrying a heavy penalty in a summary proceeding at which he was not represented by counsel. Very possibly, the proceeding was constitutionally adequate. But, by its summary nature, and because defendant was unrepresented by counsel, a presumption of adequacy is obviously less compelling than it would be had there been a full criminal trial. Moreover, the nature of the proceeding was such as to preclude direct appellate review. In such a case, it is imperative that a fair opportunity for collateral relief be afforded. An applicant for such relief ought not to be held to the niceties of lawyers' pleadings or be cursorily dismissed because his claim seems unlikely to prove meritorious. That his application is vexatious or repetitious, or that his claim lacks any substance, must be fairly demonstrated.
such an inquiry should be made if the judge grants a hearing on the first motion and allows the prisoner to be present. The disposition of all grounds for relief ascertained in this way may then be spread on the files and records of the case. Of course, to the extent the files and records "conclusively show" that the prisoner is entitled to no relief on any such grounds, no hearing on a second or successive motion, to the extent of such grounds, would be necessary.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded to the District Court for a hearing consistent with this opinion.
"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."
Petitioner makes no claim that the procedure employed by the District Court was not adequate to advise him of his constitutional rights to assistance of counsel, grand jury indictment, and trial by jury.
"This case has already been before the Court of Queen's Bench, on the return of a habeas corpus, and before my Lord Chief Baron at chambers, on a subsequent application for a similar writ. In both instances, the discharge was refused. The defendant, however, has a right to the opinion of every court as to the propriety of his imprisonment, and therefore we have thought it proper to examine attentively the provisions of the statute, without considering ourselves as concluded by these decisions."
Ex parte Partington, supra, 13 M. & W. at 683-684, 153 Eng.Rep. at 286.
See also Church, supra, § 389. The traditional English practice has recently been curtailed by statute. Administration of Justice Act, 1960, 8 & 9 Eliz. II, c. 65, § 14(2).
Article I, § 9, cl. 2, of the Federal Constitution provides: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."
The Court of Appeals in Hayman had held § 2255 unconstitutional. 187 F.2d 456 (C.A.9th Cir. 1950), amended, id. at 471 (1951). The same position had been taken in a Note in the Yale Law Journal, "Section 2255 of the Judicial Code: The Threatened Demise of Habeas Corpus," 59 Yale L.J. 1183 (1950). In this Court, a powerful constitutional attack was mounted by respondent's assigned counsel, Mr. Paul A. Freund.
The discussion in this opinion relates, of course, solely to the problem of successive applications for federal collateral relief. For the principles which govern where the prior application is not for federal collateral relief, see Fay v. Noia, supra, and Townsend v. Sain, supra.
This case, together with Townsend v. Sain, 372 U. S. 293, and Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391, form a trilogy of "guideline" decisions in which the Court has undertaken to restate the responsibilities of the federal courts in federal post-conviction proceedings. Sain and Noia relate to federal habeas corpus proceedings arising out of state criminal convictions. The present case involves successive § 2255 applications (and similar habeas corpus proceedings under § 2244, which the Court finds sets the pattern for § 2255) arising out of federal convictions.
shown by the record, the more serious aspect of the Court's opinion is the impact it is likely to have in curbing the ability of the Federal District Courts to cope efficiently, as well as fairly, with successive applications by federal prisoners, [Footnote 2/1] the number of which will doubtless increase as a result of what is said today. The net of it is that the Court has come forth with a new § 2255 of its own which bears little resemblance to the statute enacted by Congress. And, in the process, the Court has even gone so far as to suggest that any tampering with its new composition may run afoul of the Constitution.
At the outset, there is one straw man that should be removed from this case. The Court is at great pains to develop the theme that denial of a prisoner's application for collateral relief is not res judicata. But the Government recognizes, as indeed it must in view of the decisions, that strict doctrines of res judicata do not apply in this field. The consequences of injustice -- loss of liberty and sometimes loss of life -- are far too great to permit the automatic application of an entire body of technical rules whose primary relevance lies in the area of civil litigation.
insuring that there will at some point be the certainty that comes with an end to litigation, and that attention will ultimately be focused not on whether a conviction was free from error, but rather on whether the prisoner can be restored to a useful place in the community. It is with this interest in mind, as well as the desire to avoid confinements contrary to fundamental justice, that courts and legislatures have developed rules governing the availability of collateral relief.
Thus it has long been recognized that not every error that may have occurred at a criminal trial may be raised in collateral proceedings. For many years after the Constitution was adopted, and even down to the present century, such proceedings were generally confined to matters of personal and subject matter jurisdiction. Cf. Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391, 372 U. S. 450-455 (dissenting opinion of this writer). And while the scope of collateral review has expanded to cover questions of the kind raised by petitioner here, the Court has consistently held that neither habeas corpus nor its present federal counterpart § 2255 is a substitute for an appeal. See, e.g., Sunal v. Large, 332 U. S. 174; Hill v. United States, 368 U. S. 424; see also, e.g., Franano v. United States, 303 F.2d 470.
Similarly, the Court has held that not all questions that were or could have been raised in an initial application for collateral relief must necessarily be entertained if raised in a successive application. A District Court, for example, has discretion to deny a successive application if the claim asserted was heard and determined on a prior application, Salinger v. Loisel, 265 U. S. 224. Indeed, the Court has stated that it would be an abuse of discretion to entertain a second application if the claim raised had been raised before, a hearing had been held, and no proof in support of the claim had been offered at the hearing. Wong Doo v. United States, 265 U. S. 239. And, in the same year that § 2255 was adopted, the decision in Price v.
Johnston, 334 U. S. 266, made it clear that a successive application could be denied for abuse of the remedy even if the prisoner's claim had not been raised in any prior application, unless there were some acceptable excuse for the failure to do so.
". . . if it appears that the legality of such detention has been determined . . . on a prior application . . . and the petition presents no new ground not theretofore presented and determined. . . ."
provision were "to compel petitioner to state in his petition all of the grounds for the writ then known to him" and "to afford unlimited opportunity to present any grounds which petitioner may thereafter discover at any time." (Emphasis added.) This latter purpose was "brought about by allowing presentation of a subsequent petition based upon new' grounds `not theretofore presented and determined.'" [Footnote 2/2] Thus, a "new ground," within the meaning of § 2244, is one that has not previously been asserted and had not previously been known. The Court is manifestly in error in its conclusion, ante, pp. 373 U. S. 11-13, that the discretion provided for in § 2244 is limited to petitions relying on grounds previously heard and decided.
"It is not too much to ask the petitioner to state, however informally, that this . . . petition is based on newly discovered matter, or, in any event, on a claim that he could not fairly have been asked to bring to the court's attention in his . . . prior petitions. Such a requirement certainly does not narrow the broad protection which the writ . . . serves."
"Once a particular abuse has been alleged, the prisoner has the burden of answering that allegation and of proving that he has not abused the writ."
334 U.S. at 334 U. S. 292.
It is startling enough that the Government may now be required to establish, in a collateral attack on a prior conviction, that a successive application is an abuse of the remedy. It is at least equally startling to learn that the question whether or not there has been abuse of the remedy may turn on whether the prisoner had "deliberately" withheld the ground now urged or had "deliberately" abandoned it at some earlier stage. Ante, p. 373 U. S. 18. The established concept of inexcusable neglect is apparently in the process of being entirely eliminated from the criminal law, cf. Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391, and the standard that seems to be taking its place will, I am afraid, prove wholly inadequate and in the long run wholly unsatisfactory.
I must also protest the implication in the Court's opinion that every decision of this Court in the field of habeas corpus -- even one like Price v. Johnston, dealing with a purely procedural question on which reasonable men surely may differ -- has become enshrined in the Constitution because of the guarantee in Article I against suspension of the writ. This matter may perhaps be brought back into proper perspective by noting again that at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, and for many years afterward, a claim of the kind asserted by Price, or asserted here by petitioner, was not cognizable in habeas corpus at all. See p. 373 U. S. 25, supra.
Section 2255, read against the background of this Court's decisions and the history of the related provision § 2244, is surely designed to vest in the District Court a sound discretion to deny a successive motion, on its own initiative, for abuse of the remedy. At the very least, this exercise of discretion should be upheld in a case in which there has been no adequate explanation of the earlier failure to make the claim and in which the whole record, including that of the prior motion, casts substantial doubts on the merit of that claim. This is such a case.
"Having in mind all that I have told you, do you wish to have the matter heard by the grand jury?"
"THE DEFENDANT. No, your honor, I waive it."
"THE COURT. I didn't hear that."
"THE DEFENDANT. I waive that right."
"THE COURT. You waive that right?"
"THE COURT. You understand you do have the right, though?"
"THE COURT. And you now want to proceed without indictment and by way of information?"
In response to further questions, Sanders said he was acting freely and voluntarily. He then signed a waiver of indictment, and, after the information was read to him, pleaded guilty.
Sentencing followed some three weeks after, and about one year later, Sanders filed a § 2255 motion alleging, inter alia, that the court had allowed him to be "intimidated and coerced into intering [sic] a plea without Counsel, and any knowledge of the charges." This motion was denied on the merits, not simply for insufficiency, the trial judge correctly stating that the charges were "completely refuted by the files and records of this case."
"(1) the record of the original trial, which strongly indicates that, contrary to his sworn allegation, petitioner did understand precisely what was going on and responded promptly and intelligently;"
"(2) an initial application under § 2255 which not only failed to mention the claim now urged -- a lack of mental competence to understand -- but indeed advanced a wholly inconsistent claim -- that the court allowed him to be 'intimidated and coerced' into pleading guilty; and "
"(3) a second application, not filed for another nine months, without any explanation why a point which was obviously known to petitioner before, and which would so clearly have been relevant, had not previously been raised."
I seriously doubt the wisdom of these "guideline" decisions. They suffer the danger of pitfalls that usually go with judging in a vacuum. However carefully written, they are apt in their application to carry unintended consequences which once accomplished are not always easy to repair. Rules respecting matters daily arising in the federal courts are ultimately likely to find more solid formulation if left to focused adjudication on a case-by-case basis, or to the normal rulemaking processes of the Judicial Conference, rather than to ex cathedra pronouncements by this Court, which is remote from the arena.
In dealing with cases of this type, I think we do better to confine ourselves to the particular issues presented, and on that basis, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
According to the reports of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, 538 § 2255 proceedings were commenced in 1960, 560 in 1961, and 546 in 1962. Annual Report of the Director, 1960, p. 231; id., 1961, p. 239; Preliminary Annual Report of the Director, 1962, Division of Procedural Studies and Statistics, p. 23. The Government, in referring to these figures in its brief, has stated that even they "do not . . . appear to be complete in light of the Department's experience with petitions for writs of certiorari in this Court."
The memorandum of Circuit Judge Stone was written at a time when the proposal was to bar successive applications except in the form of petitions for rehearing to the same judge that had passed on the prior application. But the language in issue here, defining those applications considered to be successive, i.e., those presenting "no new ground not theretofore presented and determined," was the same as that contained in § 2244 as ultimately enacted.
It seems clear that the actual decision in Price v. Johnston could not have entered into Congress' deliberations on §§ 2244 and 2255, since the decision was handed down only one month before formal enactment, and well after study and formulation of the proposals.

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