Court Opinion

ID: 9470195
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:59:09.508525+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:46.640913
License: Public Domain

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I believe that the majority is incorrect in failing to hold that this Court can remand “mixed” petitions to the district court with directions to, if appropriate, give leave to amend the petition to remove the unexhausted claims. Thus, I must dissent.
There are four reasons that I believe remand for amendment of the petition is permissible. First, the language of Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982) leaves open that option. Second, the underlying purposes motivating the Rose v. Lundy exhaustion requirement dictate that amendment be available. Third, the great weight of authority in the Circuits considering the issue following Rose v. Lundy has adopted this view. Finally, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure support such a result.
I
Sections 2254(b) and (c) of Title 28 of the U.S.Code1 provide that a state prisoner’s *247application for a writ of habeas corpus will not be granted unless the petitioner has exhausted his available remedies in state court. While these sections do not specifically address the problem of mixed petitions (those containing both exhausted and unexhausted claims) the Supreme Court, in Rose v. Lundy, supra, considered the question.
In Rose v. Lundy, a prisoner sought federal habeas corpus relief from his Tennessee conviction. The district court granted the writ notwithstanding the fact that the petition contained both exhausted and unexhausted claims. This Court, rejecting the argument that total exhaustion was required, affirmed. Six members of the Supreme Court held that “a district court must dismiss such ‘mixed petitions,’ leaving the prisoner with the choice of returning to state courts to exhaust his claims or of amending or resubmitting the habeas petition to present only exhausted claims to the district court.” 455 U.S. at 510, 102 S.Ct. at 1199. The Court did not review the merits of the petition, but rather remanded the case to the district court for “proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Under a strict and narrow interpretation of Rose v. Lundy, it appears that this Court would be compelled to remand the case, already decided on the merits,-for directions to dismiss the entire petition. Upon the dismissal, the petitioner will likely refile an amended petition which the district court will, because of the dismissal, have to consider de novo. But such a harsh result need not be reached on the facts and the language of Rose v. Lundy, rather this Court has the power, when the issues have already been decided and considered, to remand the case with instructions that the district court entertain a motion to amend the petition to delete the unexhausted claims. If such a motion is not offered, the district court must dismiss the entire petition.
The leave to amend while retaining jurisdiction over questions already decided is not only consistent with the holding in Rose v. Lundy; its availability is compelled by the rationale underlying the total exhaustion rule in district courts.
II
There is no doubt that Justice O’Connor’s and Justice Brennan’s opinions make clear that when a petition is filed that contains exhausted and unexhausted claims, the district court should dismiss the petition without considering the merits of any of the claims. It is from this unreflected and mechanical dismissal that the notion of judicial economy is served. Yet, when the error has been made, and the district court has considered the unexhausted issues as well as the exhausted ones, the automatic dismissal of the entire petition upon remand from the Court of Appeals serves none of the interests forwarded as the basis for the total exhaustion rule. In short, Rose v. Lundy sets out a strict and straightforward requirement for district courts to follow upon the initial filing of the petition. To say that the Court of Appeals, in the posture of a case such as this, is bound to remand for dismissal even though the petitioner can immediately file an amended petition requiring de novo review of the exhausted claims, is to apply the Rose v. Lundy rule to the detriment of the principles that gave rise to it.
III
At the outset, it should be noted that the Supreme Court in Rose did not explicitly remand for dismissal. Nor did the Court order dismissal of the petition in the later case of Anderson v. Harless, - U.S. -, 103 S.Ct. 276, 74 L.Ed.2d 3 (per curiam, 1982). In addition, the language of the Rose opinion deals only with what district courts must do when receiving petitions. What we must do when we review an already considered petition must be gleaned from the principles of Rose.
Justice O’Connor noted that the overall thrust of the exhaustion rule is to “protect *248the state court’s role in the enforcement of federal law and prevent disruption of state judicial proceedings.” 455 U.S. at 518, 102 S.Ct. at 1203. More specifically, the Rose total exhaustion rule was held to foster three beneficial results. First, it “encourages state prisoners to seek full relief from the state courts.” Id. Second, “federal claims that have been fully exhausted in state courts will more often be accompanied by a complete factual record.” Id. Finally, there is federal judicial economy. In Rose, the district court had determined that the issues were so intimately intertwined that only reviewing the unexhausted ones with the exhausted would be fruitful. Accordingly, the total exhaustion rule would obviate the need for such considerations. The federal burden will be lightened because the district court will be more likely to review all of the prisoner’s claims in a single proceeding.” Id.
While all these benefits occur at the filing stage, the considerations are altered when, as here, the proceedings below have been completed. First, it is clear that a single proceeding is now possible only If we allow amendment of the petition before dismissal. If the petitioner amends his petition, and succeeds, a single proceeding will result. If, however, we direct dismissal of the petition without leave to amend, there will most likely be a refiling either immediately, or upon exhaustion in the state courts. In either event, a second proceeding will be needed.
Second, requiring dismissal of the petition, in all cases, at this stage, would not promote the goal of forcing petitioners to exhaust state remedies. Those who have yet to file a petition will still face the Rose total exhaustion rule at the district court. Those who have filed and have been heard, even though their petition contained exhausted claims, may simply refile the petition causing duplication of the district court’s considerations. Any added deterrence to petitioners is far outweighed by the need for judicial economy. Those cases already in the habeas pipeline should be handled in a manner so as to minimize duplication.
Finally, there is no additional disrespect to the state system by allowing amendment prior to dismissal. Whether the amendment, in this context, is prior to dismissal or after, leaves the state court in the same position.
IV
My reading of Rose v. Lundy is consistent with and supported by other Circuits that have addressed the issue. Most recently, the Second Circuit adopted the position. Gulliver v. Dalsheim, 687 F.2d 655 (2d Cir.1982). There, the Court wrote, “On remand, the district court should determine whether Gulliver has amended his petition to delete his unexhausted claims and, if he has not, the courts should give him an opportunity to do so.” Id. Moreover, the Court noted that after allowing amendment, the district court could then reinstate its opinion on the exhausted claims, which would be ripe for review.
The Eighth Circuit adopted this position as well in Stewart v. Parratt, 682 F.2d 757 (9th Cir.1982). There, the Court remanded the case to the district court to allow amendment, stating: “If the petitioner does choose to amend his petition to delete the unexhausted claim, then, as requested by the state, we will allow this case to proceed upon appeal on the present record and briefs.” Id. at 758.
The Fourth Circuit hinted that judicial economy should be a factor in assessing whether to apply the total exhaustion rule in the appellate context in Guthrie v. Warden, 683 F.2d 820 (4th Cir.1982). The Court held that when unexhausted claims had been abandoned early on in the habeas proceedings, Rose did not require dismissal. It stated:
Thus, we find nothing in Rose to indicate that an appellate court must direct dismissal of a mixed petition where the petitioner abandoned all unexhausted claims early in the case and the district court considered only an exhausted claim and ruled on the matter before Rose was decided. Indeed, a contrary view would *249undermine the Rose court’s concern for efficient judicial administration. Dismissal here would, without a doubt, lead the petitioner to file an amended petition — as he has an unquestioned right to do. The district court would thus be required to adjudicate this case a second time. Since there is no reason to believe that the district court would change its opinion of the case, we would expect to face a second appeal months hence. The policies which prevailed in Rose do not call for such a burdensome exercise in paper shuffling.
Id. at 821 n. 1.
In short, I agree with the Second, Fourth and Eighth Circuits that the principles underlying Rose v. Lundy’s total exhaustion rule allow that, in the appellate context when claims have already been considered and a record produced in the district court, we may direct the district courts on remand to entertain a motion for and grant leave to amend the petition should the petitioner so choose.
V
The view that leave to amend can be granted finds additional support in the plain language of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 15 permits a party to amend its pleading, after a responsive pleading has been filed, by leave of the court or written permission of the adverse party.
It specifically provides that leave shall be granted when justice so requires. Rule 15(a) Federal R.Civ.Pro. This rule places considerable discretion in the District Court to determine whether to dismiss the petition outright or to permit amendment. See Austin v. Warner, 483 F.2d 70, 71 (9th Cir.1973) (Rule 15 should be liberally applied to allow amendment, but the district court did not abuse its discretion in that ease).
There is nothing in Rose v. Lundy which derogates the Rule 15(a) principles. In fact, the Court specifically remanded the case for proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion. When a habeas case is so remanded, there would seem to be no reason why a limited right to amend the pleadings, as Rule 15(a) provides, does not remain as it would in other litigation.
This is not to say that leave to amend must be granted, rather, the district court must assess whether justice and the concerns for judicial economy and federalism (elements of the Rose rationale) dictate that amendment be allowed. The court may determine that to grant amendment would ensure piecemeal litigation of the petitioners’ claims, or that the issues are so intertwined that the exhausted and unexhausted claims must be adjudicated in a single proceeding. In that case, the district court would deny leave to amend. Yet when the Rose v. Lundy concerns are furthered by giving leave to amend, the district court should have the freedom to grant it upon motion.
The fact that the importance of the unexhausted claims which form the basis for the remand will vary from case to case dictates that there should be considerable discretion in the district court if Rose v. Lundy is to foster judicial economy. Some unexhausted claims may be strictly frivolous or pure afterthoughts by the petitioner or thrown in at the suggestion of a jailhouse lawyer. Others may have more substance to them.
If the claims yet to be exhausted are meritless, the court may wish to inform the petitioner that he has the right to amend, while at the same time advising him that he may run the risk that the claims may be waived (as suggested in Part III — C of Justice O’Connor's opinion in Rose v. Lundy). In this way, the court can preserve the proceedings it has already conducted, rather than require a de novo consideration merely on the basis of the joinder of a frivolous claim that the petitioner is willing to abandon.
VI
I find unpersuasive the reasons that compel the majority to accept the impractical. *250The majority puts great weight upon the summary dismissals in Duckworth and Rodriguez which remanded the cases to order dismissal of the petition. Yet, they should not be read to require dismissal.
First, in both cases in which it issued opinions, the Supreme Court did not remand for dismissal, but rather for additional proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion. Second, the majority is incorrect in reading Gulliver v. Dalsheim, 687 F.2d 655 (2d Cir.1982); Guthrie v. Warden, 683 F.2d 820 (4th Cir.1982), and Stewart v. Parratt, 682 F.2d 757 (8th Cir.1982) as requiring dismissal of the petition in the appellate context. Rather, the facts of each of those cases specifically show that the courts did not direct the dismissal of the petition, but allowed amendment to exclude the unexhausted claim, Gulliver and Stewart, or recognized that the unexhausted claim had been “abandoned” early on in the proceedings, Guthrie.
Third, I doubt the wisdom of reading a strict dismissal rule in the appellate context into Rose on the basis of two summary disposition cases. Especially so, when there is clear reasoning from Rose that supports the contrary view.
I would remand the case with instructions that the district court entertain a motion for leave to amend, if it is offered. If the motion is not offered, or the district court were to determine that granting leave to amend would further neither justice nor the concerns expressed in Rose, then the petition should be dismissed.