Opinion ID: 764670
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Habeas Corpus Statute

Text: 12 The federal habeas corpus statute, by contrast, explicitly requires exhaustion of state judicial remedies. Title 28 U.S.C. § 2254 provides in pertinent part: 13 An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted unless it appears that ... the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the courts of the State; or there is an absence of available State corrective process; or circumstances exist that render such process ineffective to protect the rights of the applicant. 14 Id. § 2254(b) (emphasis added). 15 Thus, under § 2254(b), a prisoner who seeks release from state custody on account of a wrongful conviction must first exhaust state judicial remedies before filing a habeas petition in district court. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 489-92, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973). Such an action--an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody, id. at 484, 93 S.Ct. 1827--has long been considered the heart of habeas corpus. See id. at 498, 93 S.Ct. 1827; see also McCarthy v. Bronson, 500 U.S. 136, 141, 111 S.Ct. 1737, 114 L.Ed.2d 194 (1991). In upholding the exhaustion requirement, the Supreme Court has noted that any other course would violate Congress's intent to impose such a requirement, see Preiser, 411 U.S. at 489, 93 S.Ct. 1827, and frustrate considerations of federal-state comity that are at the root of the exhaustion requirement, see id. at 491, 93 S.Ct. 1827. The rule of exhaustion in federal habeas corpus actions preserves  'a proper respect for state functions,'  id. at 491, 93 S.Ct. 1827 (quoting Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 44, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971)), by affording state courts the first opportunity to correct their own constitutional errors. 16 The Supreme Court has held that the exhaustion requirement applies not only to the heart of habeas cases, but also to cases in which a prisoner challenges the validity of administrative action internal to the prison system that affects the fact or length of the prisoner's confinement. See id. at 491-92, 93 S.Ct. 1827. The rationale for exhaustion in such cases remains the same: 17 [s]ince these internal problems of state prisons involve issues so peculiarly within state authority and expertise, the States have an important interest in not being bypassed in the correction of those problems. Moreover, because most potential litigation involving state prisoners arises on a day-to-day basis, it is most efficiently and properly handled by the state administrative bodies and state courts, which are, for the most part, familiar with the grievances of state prisoners and in a better physical and practical position to deal with those grievances. 18 Id. at 492, 93 S.Ct. 1827. Thus, where the fact or duration of a prisoner's confinement is at issue, § 1983 is unavailable, and only § 2254(b) with its exhaustion requirement may be employed. 19 However, many intra-prison administrative or disciplinary decisions that could result in deprivations in violation of the Constitution do not affect the fact or length of a prisoner's confinement. For example, such decisions could result in a prisoner's placement in solitary confinement or keeplock, as occurred in this case, or some other form of confinement more restrictive than that imposed on the general prison population. 20 The Supreme Court has left open the question of whether federal habeas corpus is available to prisoners who challenge decisions imposing restrictive conditions of confinement. In Preiser, the Court suggested in dictum that habeas corpus might be available in such circumstances. See Preiser, 411 U.S. at 499, 93 S.Ct. 1827 (When a prisoner is put under additional and unconstitutional restraints during his lawful custody, it is arguable that habeas corpus will lie to remove the restraints making the custody illegal.). This dictum has been the subject of considerable discussion in the circuit courts. See Sylvester v. Hanks, 140 F.3d 713, 714 (7th Cir.1998); Boudin v. Thomas, 737 F.2d 261, 262 (2d Cir.1984) (Newman, J., concurring in the denial of a petition for rehearing in banc); McCollum v. Miller, 695 F.2d 1044, 1046-47 (7th Cir.1982); Krist v. Ricketts, 504 F.2d 887, 887-88 (5th Cir.1974) (per curiam).