Opinion ID: 736909
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: District Court Issuance of a Certificate of Appealability

Text: 19 The dispute as to whether a district court has authority to issue a COA arises because of an ambiguity in the language Congress used in section 102 of the AEDPA to simultaneously amend both section 2253 of Title 28 and Rule 22 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Amended section 2253, which explicitly applies to both section 2254 and section 2255 petitions, prohibits an appeal [u]nless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (as amended) (emphasis added). The emphasized words could mean either a circuit justice or a circuit judge or a circuit justice and either a circuit or a district judge. The grammatical issue is whether circuit modifies only justice or both justice and judge. Amended Rule 22, which is captioned Habeas corpus and section 2255 proceedings, provides: 20 In a habeas corpus proceeding in which the detention complained of arises out of process issued by a State court, an appeal by the applicant for the writ may not proceed unless a district or a circuit judge issues a certificate of appealability pursuant to section 2253(c) of title 28, United States Code. If an appeal is taken by the applicant, the district judge who rendered the judgment shall either issue a certificate of appealability or state the reasons why such a certificate should not issue. The certificate or the statement shall be forwarded to the court of appeals with the notice of appeal and the file of the proceedings in the district court. If the district judge has denied the certificate, the applicant for the writ may then request issuance of the certificate by a circuit judge. If such a request is addressed to the court of appeals, it shall be deemed addressed to the judges thereof and shall be considered by a circuit judge or judges as the court deems appropriate. If no express request for a certificate is filed, the notice of appeal shall be deemed to constitute a request addressed to the judges of the court of appeals. If an appeal is taken by a State or its representative, a certificate of appealability is not required. 21 Fed. R.App. P. 22(b) (as amended) (emphasis added). 22 The language of section 2253(c) and Rule 22(b) creates several questions. The first is whether a COA can be issued by a district judge, or only by either a circuit justice or a circuit judge, even in a section 2254 case. This question has been comprehensively considered in the unanimous in banc opinion of the Eleventh Circuit in Hunter, which ruled that a district judge has authority to issue a COA. Hunter, 101 F.3d at 1573-83. We are fully persuaded by Judge Carnes's careful analysis of both the ambiguous texts and the legislative history, and we share his conclusion. 23 In addition to the points articulated in Hunter, we add these further points. First, prior to the AEDPA, it was clear that the predecessor of a COA, a certificate of probable cause (CPC), which was required for appeal of the denial of a section 2254 petition, could be issued by a district judge. Before the AEDPA, section 2253 provided that an appeal could not be taken from the denial of a section 2254 petition unless the justice or judge who rendered the order or a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of probable cause. 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (pre-AEDPA) (emphasis added). Plainly the emphasized words authorized the district judge who adjudicated the section 2254 petition to issue a CPC. If Congress wished to transfer the gate-keeping function for appeals of section 2254 denials exclusively to the courts of appeals, it could be expected to make absolutely clear its intention as to such a significant restructuring of appellate procedure. As Hunter explains, the AEDPA does not clearly indicate such a change, and the available evidence points to the maintenance of district court authority. 24 Second, the AEDPA contains another provision that explicitly assigns to the courts of appeals the gate-keeping function for second or successive section 2254 petitions. AEDPA § 106, 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b) (as amended). It is highly unlikely that Congress, after carefully crafting an express provision to divest the district courts of authority to entertain a second or successive habeas corpus petition, in the absence of court of appeals permission, would have ambiguously precluded the district courts from issuing a COA, which is the new version of the former CPC. Such preclusion ought not to be casually inferred from the grammatical possibility that circuit modifies both justice and judge in amended section 2253(c)(1), despite the contrary language of amended Rule 22(b). 3 Congress knew how to restrict the role of district judges with respect to habeas corpus procedure, and made its intention to do so clear as to second or successive petitions, but not as to permission to appeal the denial of a first petition. 25 Third, with the Eleventh Circuit having ruled thoughtfully and comprehensively on the issue of district court authority, we are reluctant to precipitate a circuit split on an issue that will arise almost every day in every district court in the country. Our reluctance would be overcome by compelling arguments opposed to the Eleventh Circuit's ruling, but we do not believe that such arguments are available. 26 We therefore uphold the authority of district judges to issue COAs, at least in section 2254 cases. 27 That conclusion raises the next question of whether a district judge may issue a COA in a section 2255 case. There can be no doubt that a COA is required to appeal from the denial of a section 2255 motion. Amended section 2253(c)(1)(B) makes that explicit. The only basis for doubt as to the authority of a district judge to issue a COA in a section 2255 case arises from the fact that the language of Rule 22(b), which provides considerable justification for construing circuit justice or judge in section 2253(c)(1) to include district judges, concerns a habeas corpus proceeding in which the detention complained of arises out of process issued by a State court, i.e., a section 2254 proceeding. Nevertheless, the caption of amended Rule 22 is Habeas corpus and section 2255 proceedings, and though the combination of the Rule and section 2253 is somewhat ambiguous on this point, as on the similar question concerning district court authority to issue a COA in a section 2254 case, the caption makes sense only if the district court authority to issue a COA in a section 2254 case also applies to a section 2255 case. See Orozco, 103 F.3d at 392. Moreover, it would be extremely anomalous to read the phrase circuit justice or judge in section 2253(c)(1) to include a district judge for purposes of issuing a COA in a section 2254 case, but only a circuit judge for purposes of issuing a COA in a section 2255 case. See Hunter, 101 F.3d at 1575 n. 8. 28 A further reason for construing section 2253 and Rule 22 in combination to authorize a district court to issue COAs in section 2255 cases arises from comparison of the appellate procedure in such cases before and after the AEDPA. Prior to the AEDPA, a defendant whose section 2255 motion was denied could appeal directly to the court of appeals, without having to obtain the CPC that was required for appeal of a denial in section 2254 cases. By explicitly requiring a COA in order to appeal the denial of a section 2255 motion, as well as the denial of a section 2254 motion, Congress obviously wanted to make an appeal in the former case at least as restricted as an appeal in the latter case. But there is no indication that Congress wanted to make appeal in a section 2255 case more restrictive than appeal in a section 2254 case. The evident purpose was to impose a threshold certification requirement on appeals in both types of cases. Authorizing district judges to issue a COA in both section 2254 and section 2255 cases is entirely consistent with that purpose. 29 We therefore conclude that district judges have authority to issue COAs in section 2255 cases. 30 That conclusion leads to a further question, which is whether an application to a district judge for a COA, in either a section 2254 or section 2255 case, is a prerequisite to an appeal of the denial of a petition under either section. Prior to the AEDPA, it was settled that an application for a CPC had to be made to a district court, with an opportunity to apply for a CPC from a court of appeals if the district court denied a CPC. See, e.g., Grune v. Coughlin, 913 F.2d 41, 44 (2d Cir.1990). Just as we would expect to see some clear indication of Congressional intent in order to conclude that the AEDPA divests the district courts of authority to issue the necessary permission for an appeal, we would expect similar clarity before concluding that Congress intended to permit unsuccessful habeas petitioners to avoid the need to seek an exercise of such authority. 31 Arguably, amended Rule 22(b) suggests that application to a district court is not required because the Rule states that [i]f no request for a certificate [of appealability] is filed, the notice of appeal shall be deemed to constitute a request addressed to the judges of the court of appeals. However, read in context, this language is properly understood not to dispense with required district court consideration of a COA request, but only to spell out the procedure applicable after a district judge has denied such a request. Amended Rule 22(b) specifies that the district judge who rendered the judgment shall either issue a COA or give reasons for denying one, implying that the district judge is required to be the initial COA decision-maker. If the district judge denies a COA, a request may then be made to a court of appeals. At that stage, the Rule continues, a notice of appeal may be construed as a further request for a COA in the event that the appellant has not formally renewed his request for a COA. Rather than dispense with an application to a district court, the amended Rule simply sets forth the sequence of applications--first to the district court and then to the court of appeals. 32 We therefore conclude that an appellant seeking to appeal from the denial of either a section 2254 or a section 2255 petition must apply to a district court for a COA.