Source: http://openjurist.org/117/f3d/949/kincade-v-l-sparkman-l-hereford
Timestamp: 2013-12-20 03:50:21
Document Index: 491578636

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 801', '§ 2254', '§ 2255', '§ 1915', '§ 1915', '§ 2254', '§ 2255', '§ 1915', '§ 2254', '§ 2255']

117 F3d 949 Kincade v. L Sparkman L Hereford | OpenJurist
117 F. 3d 949 - Kincade v. L Sparkman L Hereford	Home117 f3d 949 kincade v. l sparkman l hereford
117 F3d 949 Kincade v. L Sparkman L Hereford 117 F.3d 949
James R. KINCADE, Petitioner-Appellant,v.Emmit L. SPARKMAN, Warden; Commonwealth of Kentucky,Respondents-Appellees.Anthony L. HEREFORD, Petitioner-Appellant,v.UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee.
Nos. 96-5842, 96-5872.
Argued April 28, 1997.Decided June 26, 1997.
James R. Kincade, Burgin, KY, pro se, Eric M. Jaegers (argued and briefed), Louisville, Kentucky, for Petitioner-Appellant James R. Kincade.
Dina A. Jones, Asst. Attorney Gen. (argued and briefed), Office of the Attorney General, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Respondents-Appellees in Case No. 96-5842.
Eric M. Jaegers (argued and briefed), Louisville, Kentucky, Anthony Hereford, Miami, FL, pro se, for Petitioner-Appellant Anthony Hereford.
John P. MacCoon, Asst. U.S. Attorney (argued and briefed), Office of the U.S. Attorney, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for Respondent-Appellee in Case No. 96-5872.
Before: MARTIN, Chief Judge; KENNEDY and BOGGS, Circuit Judges.
By order dated January 16, 1997, this Court consolidated these cases for the limited purpose of determining whether the filing fee provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub.L. No. 104-134, §§ 801-10, 110 Stat. 1321 apply to habeas corpus petitions filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and to motions to vacate a sentence filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Upon careful review of the text and history of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, we conclude that the term "civil action" set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1915 does not include habeas corpus actions or motions to vacate.
The Prison Litigation Reform Act imposes a number of severe restrictions on the ability of prisoners to file civil litigation. Section 804 of that Act, now codified in 28 U.S.C. § 1915, amended the federal in forma pauperis statute to require that all prisoners pay filing fees to initiate or appeal civil actions in the federal courts regardless of the prisoner's financial status. These present consolidated appeals arise from the denial of James R. Kincade's petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed under § 2254, and from the denial of Anthony L. Hereford's motion to vacate sentence filed under § 2255. Both Kincade, a state prisoner, and Hereford, a federal prisoner, appealed their respective district court decisions. Kincade and Hereford requested pauper status on appeal. As prisoners, they face filing fees of one hundred and five dollars ($105) if this Court decides that the term "civil action" in § 1915 encompasses postconviction relief. We consolidated these cases to consider whether Congress intended the Prison Litigation Reform Act to erect an economic roadblock to indigent prisoners' power to pursue their claims of innocence through either § 2254 or § 2255, two traditional collateral approaches in the federal system of remedies.
These consolidated cases represent the tension between (1) the two laudable goals of reducing prison litigation and ensuring swift and fair trials and (2) the attempt to draft an all-purpose statute. Perhaps because of haste, the latter goal was not completely achieved, and we are therefore charged with construing the resulting language to carry out Congress's intent and yet not deprive indigent habeas petitioners of access to the courts. The Prison Litigation Reform Act is silent as to whether postconviction actions are properly within the realm of the "civil actions" contemplated by Congress.
Although courts have often separated habeas corpus petitions from criminal actions by characterizing habeas proceedings as civil in nature, "postconviction relief and prisoner civil rights relief are analytically very different." Martin v. United States,