Opinion ID: 76374
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 2241/2254 Issue Resolved

Text: 55 After reviewing the relevant history, it is evident that there are two distinct means of securing post-conviction relief in the federal courts: an application for a writ of habeas corpus (governed by, inter alia, §§ 2241 and 2254) and a motion to vacate a sentence (governed by § 2255). Because the post-conviction statutes are complicated and cumbersome, we often found it convenient to refer generally to cases implicating these statutes as habeas corpus cases. We also referred simply to § 2241 petitions, § 2254 petitions, and § 2255 petitions. The seductive simplicity of these shorthand references, however, conceals important distinctions between the two post-conviction remedies. 56 Take first the narrower of the two remedies: the § 2255 motion to vacate a federal prisoner's sentence. Section 2255 permits federal prisoners under sentence to move to vacate their sentences only if: (1) the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States; (2) the court was without jurisdiction to impose such sentence; (3) the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law; or (4) the sentence is otherwise subject to collateral attack. 28 U.S.C. § 2255 ¶ 1. 57 Turning to the writ of habeas corpus proper, the first point that bears emphasizing is that the writ of habeas corpus is a single post-conviction remedy principally governed by two different statutes. See 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a) (Writs of habeas corpus may be granted....); 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a) ([Federal courts] shall entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus....). These identical statutory references to the writ of habeas corpus must be read as referring to the same remedy. See Sorenson v. Sec'y of the Treasury, 475 U.S. 851, 860, 106 S.Ct. 1600, 1606, 89 L.Ed.2d 855 (1986). It is hardly surprising, therefore, to find previous rulings citing both of the statutes that apply to a state prisoner seeking the writ of habeas corpus. E.g., Grace v. Hopper, 566 F.2d 507, 508 (5th Cir.1978) (This is a habeas case brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254....); Glass v. Heyd, 457 F.2d 562, 563 (5th Cir.1972) (per curiam) (In this habeas proceeding filed under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2242, and 2254....); see also Francis v. Henderson, 425 U.S. 536, 538, 96 S.Ct. 1708, 1710, 48 L.Ed.2d 149 (1976) (There can be no question of a federal district court's power to entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus in a case such as this. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254.). 58 The difference between the statutes lies in the breadth of the situations to which they apply. Section 2241 provides that a writ of habeas corpus may issue to a prisoner in the following five situations: 59 (1) He is in custody under or by color of the authority of the United States or is committed for trial before some court thereof; or 60 (2) He is in custody for an act done or omitted in pursuance of an Act of Congress, or an order, process, judgment or decree of a court or judge of the United States; or 61 (3) He is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States; or 62 (4) He, being a citizen of a foreign state and domiciled therein is in custody for an act done or omitted under any alleged right, title, authority, privilege, protection, or exemption claimed under the commission, order or sanction of any foreign state, or under color thereof, the validity and effect of which depend upon the law of nations; or 63 (5) It is necessary to bring him into court to testify or for trial. 64 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c). Section 2254, on the other hand, applies to a subset of those to whom § 2241(c)(3) applies — it applies to a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court  who is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a) (emphasis added). 65 Section 2254(a) is more in the nature of a limitation on authority than a grant of authority. Compare § 2254(a) ([Federal courts] shall entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court only on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States. (emphasis added)), with § 2241(a) (Writs of habeas corpus may be granted by [federal courts] within their respective jurisdictions.). Section 2254 presumes that federal courts already have the authority to issue the writ of habeas corpus to a state prisoner, and it applies restrictions on granting the Great Writ to certain state prisoners — i.e., those who are in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court. Thus, the text of § 2254 indicates that it is not itself a grant of habeas authority, let alone a discrete and independent source of post-conviction relief. 66 Neither does the history of § 2254 suggest that the section is anything more than a limitation on the preexisting authority under § 2241(c)(3) to grant the writ of habeas corpus to state prisoners. The 1948 codification which created § 2254 merely codified judge-made restrictions on issuing the writ of habeas corpus as authorized under § 2241. See supra Part II.B.1.a.iv. Because it was merely declarative of judicial limitations imposed on habeas relief under § 2241, § 2254 could not possibly have created a new post-conviction remedy. Section 2254(a) merely specifies the class of state prisoners to which the additional restrictions of § 2254 apply. In sum, § 2254 is not an independent and additional post-conviction remedy for state prisoners; there is but a single remedy, the writ of habeas corpus. 67 In harmonizing § 2241 and § 2254, and thus in answering the issue presented in the COA, we turn to the canon of statutory construction that the more specific takes precedence over the more general. Edmond v. United States, 520 U.S. 651, 657, 117 S.Ct. 1573, 1578, 137 L.Ed.2d 917 (1997); Tug Allie-B, Inc. v. United States, 273 F.3d 936, 948 (11th Cir.2001); Bouchard Transp. Co. v. Updegraff, 147 F.3d 1344, 1351 (11th Cir.1998). Applying this canon of statutory construction, the Third Circuit concluded that an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a state prisoner serving his sentence is subject to the requirements of § 2254. Coady v. Vaughn, 251 F.3d 480, 485 (3d Cir.2001). The court stated that both Sections 2241 and 2254 authorize [petitioner's] challenge to the legality of his continued state custody, but that allowing him to file his petition in federal court pursuant to Section 2241 without reliance on Section 2254 would ... thwart Congressional intent. Id. at 484-85. We agree. 68 We find further support for the application of § 2254 in this case from the canon of statutory construction against reading any provision, or even any word, of a statute so as to make it superfluous. See Conn. Nat'l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 253, 112 S.Ct. 1146, 1149, 117 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992) ([C]ourts should disfavor interpretations of statutes that render language superfluous....). 69 Our reading of §§ 2241 and 2254 as governing a single post-conviction remedy, with the § 2254 requirements applying to petitions brought by a state prisoner in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court, gives meaning to § 2254 without rendering § 2241(c)(3) superfluous. Under our reading, there remain some state prisoners to whom § 2254 does not apply. Section 2254 is limited to state prisoners in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). State pre-trial detention, for example, might violate the Constitution or the laws or treaties of the United States. Yet a person held in such pre-trial detention would not be in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court. Such a prisoner would file an application for a writ of habeas corpus governed by § 2241 only. To read §§ 2241 and 2254 other than as we do would effectively render § 2254 meaningless because state prisoners could bypass its requirements by proceeding under § 2241. 70 If § 2254 were not a restriction on § 2241's authority to grant the writ of habeas corpus, and were instead a free-standing, alternative post-conviction remedy, then § 2254 would serve no function at all. It would be a complete dead letter, because no state prisoner would choose to run the gauntlet of § 2254 restrictions when he could avoid those limitations simply by writing § 2241 on his petition for federal post-conviction relief. All of Congress's time and effort in enacting § 2254, amending it in 1966, and further amending it in 1996 with AEDPA would have been a complete waste. Section 2254 would never be used or applied, and all of the thousands of decisions over the past half-century from the Supreme Court and other federal courts interpreting and applying the provisions of § 2254 would have been pointless. Section 2254 would be a great irrelevancy because a state prisoner could simply opt out of its operation by choosing a different label for his petition. 71 Appellant's arguments that his application for habeas relief is not subject to the requirements of § 2254 are unpersuasive. Appellant first argues that § 2254 does not reach challenges to the execution of a sentence. Specifically, he contends that § 2254 does not apply where the exact custody of which the prisoner complains is a result of administrative proceedings, which are not State court judgments. As set out above, however, to implicate § 2254, the prisoner must be in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court. Appellant undeniably is in custody pursuant to the judgment of the Florida court. 72 Appellant next argues that by holding his petition to be governed by § 2254, the Court would create the illogical situation where federal prisoners challenge disciplinary proceedings under § 2241, but state prisoners must proceed under § 2254. As we have explained, state prisoners in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court may file a habeas corpus petition, as authorized by § 2241, but they are limited by § 2254. When a state prisoner's petition falls within the ambit of § 2254, the prisoner is subject to that section's restrictions. Similarly, when a federal prisoner's claims fall within the ambit of § 2255, the prisoner is subject to that section's restrictions. The fact that the § 2255 sphere of applicability and restrictions do not parallel those of § 2254 does not make the statutory scheme illogical or our statutory interpretation incorrect. 73 Appellant further contends that § 2254 is not the best fit for state prisoners challenging prison disciplinary proceedings and sanctions. In particular, he points out that state court review of prison disciplinary proceedings varies by state. He argues that subjecting such challenges to the § 2254 exhaustion requirement would lead to a lack of uniformity. Appellant further contends that, as to prisoners incarcerated by states not providing state court review, the standard of review provisions set out in § 2254(d) and (e) would be rendered meaningless. 74 With respect to these arguments, we note it is clear from § 2254(c) that Congress was aware at the time of its enactment that the availability of state court review may vary by state. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(c) (An applicant shall not be deemed to have exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State, within the meaning of this section, if he has the right under the law of the State to raise, by any available procedure, the question presented. (emphasis added)). Section 2254 merely requires that a petitioner exhaust any available state procedures and that, where such procedures are available, the federal courts give a certain amount of deference to the state court determinations. 75 Finally, Appellant points out that the § 2244(b)(2) provision governing successive petitions, by its terms, would not permit a § 2254 petition challenging prison disciplinary proceedings where a petitioner has brought an earlier petition challenging his conviction or sentence. We disagree. The term `second or successive' remains a term of art that must be given meaning by reference to both the body of case law developed before the enactment of AEDPA and the policies that prompted AEDPA's enactment. Crouch v. Norris, 251 F.3d 720, 725 (8th Cir.2001). We agree with the decisions issued by many of our sister circuits that a petition challenging such disciplinary proceedings would not be second or successive where the claim could not have been raised in an earlier petition and does not otherwise constitute an abuse of the writ. See James v. Walsh, 308 F.3d 162, 167 (2d Cir.2002); Hill v. Alaska, 297 F.3d 895, 898-99 (9th Cir.2002); Crouch, 251 F.3d at 725; In re Cain, 137 F.3d 234, 236-37 (5th Cir.1998). 76 Insofar as we hold Appellant is subject to § 2254 and its various restrictions, we find ourselves in agreement with the Second, Third, Seventh, and Eight Circuits. Cook v. New York State Div. of Parole, 321 F.3d 274, 278-79 (2d Cir.2003); Crouch, 251 F.3d at 723; Coady, 251 F.3d at 484-85; Walker v. O'Brien, 216 F.3d 626, 633 (7th Cir.2000). 8 77 In summary, a state prisoner seeking post-conviction relief from a federal court has but one remedy: an application for a writ of habeas corpus. All applications for writs of habeas corpus are governed by § 2241, which generally authorizes federal courts to grant the writ — to both federal and state prisoners. Most state prisoners' applications for writs of habeas corpus are subject also to the additional restrictions of § 2254. That is, if a state prisoner is in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court, his petition is subject to § 2254. If, however, a prisoner is in prison pursuant to something other than a judgment of a state court, e.g., a pre-trial bond order, then his petition is not subject to § 2254.