page_title: United States v. Morgan (1954)
section_title: Decision
hierarchical_section_title: United States v. Morgan (1954) / Decision
caption_attribution_description: English: The members of the Warren Court, taken in 1953. Back row (left to right): Tom Clark, Robert H. Jackson, Harold Burton, and Sherman Minton. Front row (left to right): Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Stanley Reed, and William O. Douglas.
context_page_description: United States v. Morgan, 346 U.S. 502 (1954), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court which provides the writ of coram nobis as the proper application to request federal post-conviction judicial review for those who have completed the conviction's incarceration.
context_section_description: United States v. Morgan was argued on October 19, 1953 and decided January 4, 1954. In a 5-4 decision, the Court agreed with the Second Circuit and held that federal courts have the authority under the all-writs section of the Judicial Code to issue the writ of coram nobis to those who are no longer in custody. Justice Stanley Reed wrote for the majority in Morgan, which held:
  Federal District Courts, under the authority of the All-Writs Section, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), may issue the writ of coram nobis.
  A motion for a writ of coram nobis “is a step in the criminal case” and “is of the same general character as a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.”
  A writ of coram nobis should be allowed only under circumstances compelling such action to achieve justice.
  If no other remedy is available and sound reasons existing for failure to seek appropriate earlier relief, a motion of the writ of coram nobis must be heard by the federal court.
  Since adverse consequences resulting from the conviction persist after conclusion of a sentence, the petitioner is entitled to show that his conviction was invalid.
  The writ of coram nobis may be issued to correct a constitutional violation. Thus, Morgan broadened the writ of coram nobis, which had historically been issued only to correct errors of fact, to allow courts to also correct errors of law.
caption: In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court held that federal courts have the authority to issue the writ of coram nobis to those who are no longer in custody.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image DateTime": "2008:11:23 12:42:31", "Image ExifOffset": "2142", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4360", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2478", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "22E0C62F938A46799410B160148CD850", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}