Task: songer_geniss

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Your task is to identify the issue in the case, that is, the social and/or political context of the litigation in which more purely legal issues are argued. Put somewhat differently, this field identifies the nature of the conflict between the litigants. The focus here is on the subject matter of the controversy rather than its legal basis. Consider the following categories: "criminal" (including appeals of conviction, petitions for post conviction relief, habeas corpus petitions, and other prisoner petitions which challenge the validity of the conviction or the sentence), "civil rights" (excluding First Amendment or due process; also excluding claims of denial of rights in criminal proceeding or claims by prisoners that challenge their conviction or their sentence (e.g., habeas corpus petitions are coded under the criminal category); does include civil suits instituted by both prisoners and callable non-prisoners alleging denial of rights by criminal justice officials), "First Amendment", "due process" (claims in civil cases by persons other than prisoners, does not include due process challenges to government economic regulation), "privacy", "labor relations", "economic activity and regulation", and "miscellaneous".

PER CURIAM.
The district court denied the appellant’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus on the grounds that he had failed to exhaust available state remedies. We vacate and remand.
Appellant Hay was convicted of burglary and sentenced to four years in the state penitentiary on September 19, 1967. This is the judgment of conviction which Hay is attacking in these proceedings.
In his habeas corpus petition the appellant alleges that he was illegally arrested without a warrant, that the police conducted illegal searches and seizures and that tainted evidence recovered as a result of the illegal searches and seizures was introduced at his trial.
The appellant presented these allegations, subsequent to his conviction, by motion for new trial filed in the sentencing court, and on direct appeal. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the appellant’s conviction on December 18, 1968. Hay v. State, Tex.Cr.App.1968, 436 S.W.2d 153.
It is well settled that a prisoner who petitions for federal habeas corpus relief need not further exhaust his state remedies if he has previously had his contentions ruled on by the state’s highest court on direct appeal. Thomas v. Beto, 5th Cir. 1972, 461 F.2d 244; McCluster v. Wainwright, 5th Cir. 1972, 453 F.2d 162; Bartz v. Wainwright, 5th Cir. 1971, 451 F.2d 663.
Accordingly, we conclude that the district court erred in dismissing the appellant’s petition on grounds of failure to exhaust state remedies. The judgment below is vacated and the case is remanded so that the district court may adjudicate Hay’s claims on their merits.
Vacated and remanded.

Question: What is the general issue in the case?
A. criminal
B. civil rights
C. First Amendment
D. due process
E. privacy
F. labor relations
G. economic activity and regulation
H. miscellaneous
Answer:

Answer: A