Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/479/314/case.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 07:10:18+00:00

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In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79, the Court ruled that a state criminal defendant could establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination violative of the Fourteenth Amendment, based on the prosecution's use of peremptory challenges to strike members of the defendant's race from the jury venire, and that, once the defendant had made the prima facie showing, the burden shifted to the prosecution to come forward with a neutral explanation for those challenges. These cases concern the question whether that ruling applies to cases pending on direct review or not yet final when Batson was decided. In No. 85-5221, petitioner's robbery conviction in a Kentucky state court was affirmed by the Kentucky Supreme Court, which rejected petitioner's claim that the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to strike prospective black jurors deprived petitioner, a black person, of guaranteed equal protection. Similarly, in No. 85-5731, petitioner's conviction in Federal District Court on narcotics charges was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, which rejected petitioner's claim that the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to exclude black jurors, combined with his call to the jury clerk, violated the right of petitioner, a black person, to an impartial jury. The petitions for certiorari in both cases were filed in this Court before Batson was decided.
Held: A new rule for the conduct of criminal prosecutions, such as the ruling in Batson, applies retroactively to all cases, state or federal, pending on direct review or not yet final, with no exception for cases in which the new rule constitutes a "clear break" with the past. Pp. 479 U. S. 320-328.
(a) Failure to apply a newly declared constitutional rule to criminal cases pending on direct review violates basic norms of constitutional adjudication. After this Court has announced a new rule in the case selected for review, the integrity of judicial review requires the Court to apply that rule to all similar cases pending on direct review. In addition, selective application of a new rule violates the principle of treating similarly situated defendants the same. Pp. 479 U. S. 320-326.
based solely on the fact that the new rule is a "clear break" with the past, is inappropriate. The principle that this Court does not disregard current law when it adjudicates a case pending before it on direct review applies regardless of the specific characteristics of the new rule announced by the Court. Further, the use of a "clear break" exception creates the same problem of not treating similarly situated defendants the same. The fact that the new rule may constitute a clear break with the past has no bearing on the "actual inequity that results" when only one of many similarly situated defendants receives the benefit of the new rule. Pp. 479 U. S. 326-328.
BLACKMUN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BRENNAN, MARSHALL, POWELL, STEVENS, and SCALIA, JJ., joined. POWELL, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 479 U. S. 328. REHNQUIST, C.J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 479 U. S. 329. WHITE, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and O'CONNOR, J., joined, post, p. 479 U. S. 329.
In Batson, 476 U.S. at 476 U. S. 96-98, this Court ruled that a defendant in a state criminal trial could establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination violative of the Fourteenth Amendment, based on the prosecution's use of peremptory challenges to strike members of the defendant's race from the jury venire, and that, once the defendant had made the prima facie showing, the burden shifted to the prosecution to come forward with a neutral explanation for those challenges. In the present cases, we consider whether that ruling is applicable to litigation pending on direct state or federal review or not yet final when Batson was decided. We answer that question in the affirmative.
and being a persistent felony offender in the second degree. App. 2. On the first day of trial, the prosecution and defense attorneys conducted voir dire examination of the jury venire and exercised their peremptory challenges. [Footnote 1] The prosecution used four of its five allotted challenges to strike four of the five prospective black jurors. The defense used eight of its allotted nine challenges to strike prospective white jurors. There were two duplicate strikes. The two extra jurors who remained because of the duplicate strikes, one of whom was a black person, then were removed by random draw. [Footnote 2] Thus, no black person remained on the jury. Id. at 5, 12-13.
to Ky.Rev.Stat. § 532.080 (1985), enhanced his sentence to 20 years' imprisonment.
The Supreme Court of Kentucky, with an unpublished memorandum opinion, affirmed the judgment of conviction. App. 17. The court rejected petitioner's claim that the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges deprived him of guaranteed equal protection. It relied on Swain v. Alabama, 380 U. S. 202 (1965), where this Court ruled that a black defendant did not establish a violation of the Equal Protection Clause solely on proof of the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to strike black jurors at the defendant's own trial. Id. at 380 U. S. 221-222. The Court noted, however, that an inference of purposeful discrimination could be raised where a prosecutor had engaged in a pattern of challenging black jurors in a series of cases. See id. at 380 U. S. 223-224. The Kentucky court concluded that Swain disposed of petitioner's claim and it "decline[d] to go further than the Swain court." App. 18.
Griffith timely filed here a petition for a writ of certiorari. While his petition was pending, this Court decided Batson v. Kentucky, supra, where it rejected a portion of the reasoning of Swain v. Alabama on which the Kentucky court had relied. 476 U.S. at 476 U. S. 89-96. Two months later, in Allen v. Hardy, 478 U. S. 255 (1986) (per curiam), we held that the ruling in Batson was not to be applied retroactively to a case on federal habeas review. We granted certiorari in Griffith's case, 476 U.S. 1157 (1986), limited to the question whether the ruling in Batson applies retroactively to a state conviction pending on direct review at the time of the Batson decision.
black jurors in the total venire. Four were excused for cause by the court, and the other two were excused by the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges. Id. at 20. [Footnote 5] Defense counsel objected to the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to strike the black persons from the jury, claiming that petitioner was thereby denied a jury representative of the community. Id. at 20-21. No action was taken in response to that objection.
As prospective jurors were being assembled for the second venire panel, the prosecutor called the jury clerk to inquire about the racial composition of the additional venire. At a hearing held later while the jury was deliberating, there was evidence that the prosecutor said to the clerk: "We would like to have as few black jurors as possible." App. 51. The clerk testified, however, that she remembered the prosecutor's comment to be: "Don't get any blacks on this jury." Id. at 38-39. The clerk went on to say that she did not alter the jury selection in any way in response to the prosecutor's comment. Id. at 44-45. The District Court concluded that the prosecutor's contact with the jury clerk "would have to be looked at and dealt with by someone," id. at 44, inasmuch as it fell "into the category of possible prosecutorial misconduct," id. at 46, but that it did not affect the integrity of the selection of the jury. Id. at 45. The court therefore concluded that a new trial would not be necessary if the jury convicted petitioner. Id. at 46.
combined with his call to the jury clerk, violated petitioner's right to an impartial jury. The court concluded that Brown had not met Swain's threshold requirement that petitioner must show a systematic and intentional course of conduct by the prosecutor calculated to exclude black jurors in "case after case." 770 F.2d at 914. It further concluded that the communication by the prosecutor to the jury clerk did not suggest a pattern of systematic exclusion of black jurors. Although the court observed that the prosecutor's action was "improper" and "must be condemned," ibid., it concluded, as had the District Court, that the prosecutor's request had no effect on the selection of Brown's jury.
"the purpose of the Mapp rule; the reliance placed upon the [previous] doctrine; and the effect on the administration of justice of a retrospective application of Mapp."
Stovall v. Denno, 388 U. S. 293, 388 U. S. 297 (1967) (retroactivity depends on "(a) the purpose to be served by the new standards, (b) the extent of the reliance by law enforcement authorities on the old standards, and (c) the effect on the administration of justice of a retroactive application of the new standards").
Shortly after the decision in Linkletter, the Court held that the three-pronged analysis applied both to convictions that were final, [Footnote 6] and to convictions pending on direct review. See Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U. S. 719, 384 U. S. 732 (1966); Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. at 388 U. S. 300. In the latter case, the Court concluded that, for purposes of applying the three factors of the analysis, "no distinction is justified between convictions now final . . . and convictions at various stages of trial and direct review." Ibid. Thus, a number of new rules of criminal procedure were held not to apply retroactively either to final cases or to cases pending on direct review. See, e.g., Stovall v. Denno, supra; DeStefano v. Woods, 392 U. S. 631, 392 U. S. 635, n. 2 (1968); Desist v. United States, 394 U. S. 244, 394 U. S. 253-254 (1969); Daniel v. Louisiana, 420 U. S. 31 (1975) (per curiam).
"have asserted that, at a minimum, all defendants whose cases were still pending on direct appeal at the time of the law-changing decision should be entitled to invoke the new rule."
457 U.S. at 457 U. S. 545, and n. 9 (collecting opinions). [Footnote 9] The rationale for distinguishing between cases that have become final and those that have not, and for applying new rules retroactively to cases in the latter category, was explained at length by Justice Harlan in Desist v. United States, 394 U.S. at 394 U. S. 256 (dissenting opinion), and in Mackey v. United States, 401 U. S. 667, 401 U. S. 675 (1971) (opinion concurring in judgment). In United States v. Johnson, we embraced to a significant extent the comprehensive analysis presented by Justice Harlan in those opinions.
"If we do not resolve all cases before us on direct review in light of our best understanding of governing constitutional principles, it is difficult to see why we should so adjudicate any case at all. . . . In truth, the Court's assertion of power to disregard current law in adjudicating cases before us that have not already run the full course of appellate review is quite simply an assertion that our constitutional function is not one of adjudication, but in effect of legislation."
Mackey v. United States, 401 U.S. at 401 U. S. 679 (opinion concurring in judgment).
"[s]imply fishing one case from the stream of appellate review, using it as a vehicle for pronouncing new constitutional standards, and then permitting a stream of similar cases subsequently to flow by unaffected by that new rule."
Ibid. See United States v. Johnson, 457 U.S. at 457 U. S. 546-547, 457 U. S. 555.
"the actual inequity that results when the Court chooses which of many similarly situated defendants should be the chance beneficiary"
of a new rule. 457 U.S. at 457 U. S. 556, n. 16 (emphasis in original). Although the Court had tolerated this inequity for a time by not applying new rules retroactively to cases on direct review, we noted: "The time for toleration has come to an end." Ibid.
"subject to [certain exceptions], a decision of this Court construing the Fourth Amendment is to be applied retroactively to all convictions that were not yet final at the time the decision was rendered."
on the old standards and effect on the administration of justice of a retroactive application of the new rule -- have virtually compelled a finding of nonretroactivity. See, e.g., Gosa v. Mayden, 413 U.S. at 413 U. S. 672-673, 413 U. S. 682-685 (plurality opinion); Michigan v. Payne, 412 U.S. at 412 U. S. 55-57."
Thus, we recognized what may be termed a "clear break exception." Under this exception, a new constitutional rule was not applied retroactively, even to cases on direct review, if the new rule explicitly overruled a past precedent of this Court, or disapproved a practice this Court had arguably sanctioned in prior cases, or overturned a longstanding practice that lower courts had uniformly approved. Id. at 457 U. S. 551. The Fourth Amendment ruling in Payton v. New York, 445 U. S. 573 (1980), with which United States v. Johnson was concerned, was not a clear break in any of these senses, and thus its retroactivity status was not "effectively preordained" by falling within the "clear break" exception. 457 U.S. at 457 U. S. 553-554.
Although, in Shea, we expressed some doubt as to "the merits of a different retroactivity rule for cases" in which a new rule is a clear break with the past, we explained that "we have no need to be concerned with the question here." 470 U.S. at 470 U. S. 59, n. 5.
The question whether a different retroactivity rule should apply when a new rule is a "clear break" with the past, however, is squarely before us in the present cases. In Allen v. Hardy, 478 U. S. 255 (1986), a case which was here on federal habeas, we said that the rule in Batson "is an explicit and substantial break with prior precedent" because it "overruled [a] portion of Swain." 478 U.S. at 478 U. S. 258. [Footnote 12] We therefore now reexamine the rationale for maintaining a "clear break" exception to the general proposition that new rules governing criminal procedure should be retroactive to cases pending on direct review. For the same reasons that persuaded us in United States v. Johnson to adopt different conclusions as to convictions on direct review from those that already had become final, we conclude that an engrafted exception based solely upon the particular characteristics of the new rule adopted by the Court is inappropriate.
of justice imposed by retroactive application. But even if these factors may be useful in deciding whether convictions that already have become final should receive the benefit of a new rule, the "clear break" exception, derived from the Stovall factors, reintroduces precisely the type of case-specific analysis that Justice Harlan rejected as inappropriate for cases pending on direct review.
"one chance beneficiary -- the lucky individual whose case was chosen as the occasion for announcing the new principle -- enjoys retroactive application, while others similarly situated have their claims adjudicated under the old doctrine."
one of many similarly situated defendants receives the benefit of the new rule. United States v. Johnson, 457 U.S. at 457 U. S. 556, n. 16 (emphasis omitted).
* Together with No. 85-5731, Brown v. United States, on certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
In Kentucky, upon the completion of voir dire, the parties simultaneously exercise their respective peremptory challenges. Each side strikes names from the list of jurors who have been qualified and presents the strikes to the court. Ky.Rule Crim.Proc. 9.36(2).
"If the number of prospective jurors remaining on the list [after peremptory challenges] exceeds the number of jurors to be seated, the cards bearing numbers identifying the prospective jurors [are] placed in a box" and the clerk of the court draws at random the number of cards necessary "to reduce the jury to the number required by law." Ibid.
Before submitting the case to the jury, the trial court granted Griffith's request for a directed verdict of acquittal on the charge of theft by unlawful taking. See Tr. 204-206.
There is some confusion as to the number of prospective black jurors in the total venire. According to a statement in the record, there were six in the two panels. Id. at 20. At oral argument, counsel for petitioner Brown stated that five had been called. Tr. of Oral Arg. 3. There appears to be agreement, however, that two black jurors were excused by the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges. See ibid.; 6 Record 20; App. 14.
By "final," we mean a case in which a judgment of conviction has been rendered, the availability of appeal exhausted, and the time for a petition for certiorari elapsed or a petition for certiorari finally denied. See United States v. Johnson, 457 U. S. 537, 457 U. S. 542, n. 8 (1982) (citing Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U. S. 618, 381 U. S. 622, n. 5 (1965)).
In United States v. Johnson, the Court held that the Fourth Amendment ruling announced in Payton v. New York, 445 U. S. 573 (1980), prohibiting police from making a warrantless, nonconsensual entry into a suspect's home for the purpose of making a routine felony arrest, applied retroactively to a case pending on direct appeal.
We noted in Johnson that our review did not address the area of civil retroactivity. See 457 U.S. at 457 U. S. 563. That area continues to be governed by the standard announced in Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson, 404 U. S. 97, 404 U. S. 106-107 (1971).
See, among others, Brown v. Louisiana, 447 U. S. 323, 447 U. S. 337 (1980) (POWELL, J., with whom STEVENS, J., joined, concurring in judgment); Harlin v. Missouri, 439 U. S. 459, 439 U. S. 460 (1979) (POWELL, J., concurring in judgment); Hankerson v. North Carolina, 432 U. S. 233, 432 U. S. 245 (1977) (MARSHALL, J., concurring in judgment); id. at 432 U. S. 246 (POWELL, J., concurring in judgment).
In Solem v. Stumes, the Court concluded that the rule announced in Edwards was not retroactive to a conviction that had become final.
Petitioner Griffith argues that the Batson ruling was not a "clear break" with the past because it did not announce a new principle of constitutional law under the Equal Protection Clause. Whatever the merits of that argument might be, it is foreclosed by Allen v. Hardy.
Batson was tried in February, 1984. See App. in Batson v. Kentucky, O.T. 1985, No. 84-6263, p. 1. Petitioner Griffith was tried in May of that year. App. in No. 85-5221, p. 1. And, for what it may be worth, petitioner Brown was tried in Oklahoma in June, 1984. App. in No. 85-5731, p. 2.
in judgment). The Harlan view is stated in Mackey v. United States, 401 U. S. 667, 401 U. S. 675 (1971) (opinion concurring in judgment in Mackey and dissenting from judgment in Williams v. United States, 401 U. S. 646 (1971)), and Desist v. United States, 394 U. S. 244, 394 U. S. 256 (1969) (dissenting opinion). I was persuaded by Justice Harlan's reasoning then, and have followed it since. See Hankerson v. North Carolina, supra; Harlin v. Missouri, 439 U. S. 459, 439 U. S. 460 (1979) (concurring in judgment); Brown v. Louisiana, 447 U. S. 323, 447 U. S. 337 (1980) (concurring in judgment); Solem v. Stumes, 465 U. S. 638, 465 U. S. 651 (1984) (concurring in judgment).
As the cases we decide today involve only the retroactivity of decisions pending on direct review, it was not necessary for the Court to express an opinion with respect to habeas corpus petitions. As I read the Court's opinion, this question is carefully left open until it is squarely presented. It is to be hoped that the Court then will adopt the Harlan view of retroactivity in cases seeking relief on habeas petitions. See Mackey v. United States, supra, at 401 U. S. 681-695. Under that view, habeas petitions generally should be judged according to the constitutional standards existing at the time of conviction.
U.S. 255 (1986), for making Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (1986), nonretroactive.
""(a) the purpose to be served by the new standards, (b) the extent of the reliance by law enforcement authorities on the old standards, and (c) the effect on the administration of justice of a retroactive application of the new standards.'""
"Two concerns purportedly underlie the majority's decision. The first is that retroactivity is somehow an essential attribute of judicial decisionmaking, and that, when the Court announces a new rule and declines to give it retroactive effect, it has abandoned the judicial role and assumed the function of a legislature -- or, to use the term Justice Harlan employed in describing the problem, a 'super-legislature.' Desist v. United States, 394 U. S. 244, 394 U. S. 259 (1969) (Harlan, J., dissenting). The second (and not completely unrelated) concern is fairness. It is the business of a court, the majority reasons, to treat like cases alike; accordingly, it is unfair for one litigant to receive the benefit of a new decision when another, identically situated, is denied the same benefit. The majority's concerns are no doubt laudable, but I cannot escape the conclusion that the rule they have spawned makes no sense."
of legislative authority by this Court generally go more to the substance of the Court's decisions than to whether or not they are retroactive. Surely those who believe that the Court has overstepped the bounds of its legitimate authority in announcing a new rule of constitutional law will find little solace in a decision holding the new rule retroactive. If a decision is in some sense illegitimate, making it retroactive is a useless gesture that will fool no one. If, on the other hand, the decision is a salutary one, but one whose purposes are ill-served by retroactive application, retroactivity may be worse than useless, imposing costs on the criminal justice system that will likely be uncompensated for by any perceptible gains in 'judicial legitimacy.'"
approach equalizes nothing except the numbers of defendants within the disparately treated classes."
it has no choice but to follow a mechanical notion of fairness without pausing to consider "sound principles of decisionmaking," Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. at 388 U. S. 301.
"a decision announcing a new standard 'is almost automatically nonretroactive' where the decision 'has explicitly overruled past precedent.'"
"Once the Court has found that [a] new rule was unanticipated, the second and third Stovall factors -- reliance by law enforcement authorities on the old standards and effect on the administration of justice of a retroactive application of the new rule -- have virtually compelled a finding of nonretroactivity."
457 U.S. at 457 U. S. 549-550 (citations omitted).
"prosecutors, trial judges, and appellate courts throughout our state and federal systems justifiably have relied on the standard of Swain."
"The majority recognizes that the distinction between direct review and habeas is problematic, but justifies its differential treatment by appealing to the need to draw 'the curtain of finality,' [470 U.S.] at 470 U. S. 60, on those who were unfortunate enough to have exhausted their last direct appeal at the time Edwards [v. Arizona, 451 U. S. 477 (1981),] was decided. Yet the majority offers no reasons for its conclusion that finality should be the decisive factor. When a conviction is overturned on direct appeal on the basis of an Edwards violation, the remedy offered the defendant is a new trial at which any inculpatory statements obtained in violation of Edwards will be excluded. It is not clear to me why the majority finds such a burdensome remedy more acceptable when it is imposed on the State on direct review than when it is the result of a collateral attack. The disruption attendant upon the remedy does not vary depending on whether it is imposed on direct review or habeas; accordingly, if the remedy must be granted to defendants on direct appeal, there is no strong reason to deny it to prisoners attacking their convictions collaterally. Conversely, if it serves no worthwhile purpose to grant the remedy to a defendant whose conviction was final before Edwards, it is hard to see why the remedy should be available on direct review."
Id. at 470 U. S. 64-65 (footnote omitted).
"The distinction between direct review and collateral attack may bear some relationship to the recency of the crime; thus, to the extent that the difficulties presented by a new trial may be more severe when the underlying offense is more remote in time, it may be that new trials would tend to be somewhat more burdensome in habeas cases than in cases involving reversals on direct appeal. However, this relationship is by no means direct, for the speed with which cases progress through the criminal justice system may vary widely. Thus, if the Court is truly concerned with treating like cases alike, it could accomplish its purpose far more precisely by applying new constitutional rules only to conduct of appropriately recent vintage. I assume, however, that no one would argue for an explicit '5-year-rule,' for example."
"Of course, it will be less burdensome in the aggregate to apply [Batson] only to cases pending when [Batson] was decided than to give it full retroactive effect; by the same token, it would be less burdensome to apply [Batson] retroactively to all cases involving defendants whose last names begin with the letter 'S' than to make the decision fully retroactive. The majority obviously would not countenance the latter course, but its failure to identify any truly relevant distinction between cases on direct appeal and cases raising collateral challenges makes the rule it announces equally indefensible."
Shea v. Louisiana, 470 U.S. at 470 U. S. 64, n. 1 (WHITE, J., dissenting).

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