Court Opinion

ID: 9463178
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:59:54.214847+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:57.879575
License: Public Domain

GIBBONS, Circuit Judge
(concurring):
I agree with Judge Van Dusen that the fair cross-section requirement claim was presented to the New Jersey courts and that there has been exhaustion of New Jersey remedies for that claim within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b). I do not agree, however, that the selection of Burlington County over Hudson County was a violation of the fair cross-section requirement. Zicarelli makes no real claim of systematic or intentional exclusion of any class of persons from the jury actually selected. Jury selection methods in Burlington, on the record before us, meet federal standards. Thus I do not agree that a further hearing on that claim is required, and I would affirm the district court’s denial of habeas corpus on that ground.
I agree with Judge Adams that the predetermined district claim has not been presented to the state courts and that it is indeed a substantial claim of a due process violation. The exhaustion rule codified in 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b) is not jurisdictional, and the long delay in the "determination of this habeas corpus petition might well justify disregarding the requirement and considering the merits of the issues. In this case, however, it seems the preferable course to permit the New Jersey courts the opportunity to develop a record of whatever justification may exist for that State’s non-compliance with the predetermined district standard before any federal court considers whether the standard is as a matter of due process applicable to the states.
Thus I concur in the judgment of the court.