Court Opinion

ID: 9427699
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:21:36.552735+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:09.178768
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Powell,
with whom Mr. Justice Rehnquist joins, concurring in the judgment.
I agree that respondents’ convictions should not be overturned. As the Court holds, respondents failed to show a prima facie case of discrimination in the selection of the foreman of the grand jury that indicted them. A more fundamental reason exists, however, for reversing the judgment of the Court of Appeals. Respondents were found’ guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt by a petit jury whose composition is not questioned, following a trial that was fair in every respect. Furthermore, respondents were given a full and fair opportunity to litigate in the state courts their claim of discrimination. In these circumstances, allowing an attack on the selection of the grand jury in this case is an abuse of federal habeas corpus.
Whenever a federal court is called upon by a state prisoner to issue a writ of habeas corpus, it is asked to do two things that should be undertaken only with restraint and respect for the way our system of justice is structured. First, as one court of general jurisdiction, it is requested to entertain a collateral attack upon the final judgment of another court of general jurisdiction. Second, contrary to principles of federalism, a lower federal court is asked to review not only a state trial court’s judgment, but almost invariably the judgment of the highest court of the State as well.1 These con*580siderations prompt one to inquire, more critically than this Court ever has, whether it is appropriate to allow the use of habeas corpus by state prisoners who do not seek to protect their personal interest in the justness of their convictions.
I
The history and purpose of the writ of habeas corpus do not support the application of the writ suggested by five Members of the Court today. Originally, this writ was granted only when the criminal trial court had been without jurisdiction to entertain the action. See, e. g., Ex parte Watkins, 3 Pet. 193, 202 (1830); Schechtman v. Foster, 172 F. 2d 339 (CA2 1949), cert. denied, 339 U. S. 924 (1950); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S. 218, 254 (1973) (Powell, J., concurring); Oaks, Legal History in the High Court — -Habeas Corpus, 64 Mich. L. Rev. 451, 468 (1966); Bator, Finality in Criminal Law and Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners, 76 Harv. L. Rev. 441, 466 (1963) (hereinafter Bator). Subsequently, the scope of the writ was modestly expanded to encompass ¡'those cases where the defendant’s federal constitutional claims had not been considered in the state-court proceeding. See Frank v. Mangum, 237 U. S. 309 (1915). In recent years, this Court has extended habeas corpus far beyond the historical uses to which the writ was put. Today, federal habeas is granted in a variety of situations where, although the trial court plainly had jurisdiction over the case, and the defendant’s constitutional claims were fully and fairly considered by the state courts, some sort of constitutional error is found to have been committed. E. g., Brown v. Allen, 344 U. S. 443 (1953); see Fay v. Nova, 372 U. S. 391, 449-463 (1963) (Harlan, J., dissenting).
*5811 do not suggest that we should revert to the 19th-century conception of the writ and limit habeas corpus to those circumstances where the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter a competent judgment. In expanding the scope of habeas corpus, however, the Court seems to have lost sight entirely of the historical purpose of the writ. It has come to accept review by federal district courts of state-court judgments in criminal cases as the rule, rather than the exception that it should be. Federal constitutional challenges are raised in almost every state criminal case, in part because every lawyer knows that such claims will provide nearly automatic federal habeas corpus review. If we now extend habeas corpus to encompass constitutional claims unrelated to the fairness of the trial in which the claimant was convicted, we will take another long step toward the creation of a dual system of review under which a defendant convicted of crime in a state court, having exhausted his remedies in the state system, repeats the process through the federal system. The extent to which this duplication already exists in this country is without parallel in any other system of justice in the world.2
We simply have not heeded the admonition of thoughtful scholars that federal habeas corpus should not be “made the instrument for re-determining the merits of all cases in the legal system that have ended in detention.” P. Bator, P. Mishkin, D. Shapiro, & H. Wechsler, Hart & Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System 1428 (2d ed. 1973); see Bator 446-448. Today’s case is an extreme example of this loss of historical perspective. In extending use of the writ to circumstances wholly unrelated to its purpose, the Court would move beyond anything heretofore *582decided in our cases. It is true that on a number of occasions this Court has considered state grand jury discrimination, but no prior decision fairly can be viewed as authority for federal habeas corpus review in the absence of a challenge to the fairness of the trial itself. Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 U. S. 303 (1880), and all of its progeny, involved cases in which the composition of both the grand and petit juries was challenged, so that the integrity of the trial itself was at issue. In cases such as Pierre v. Louisiana, 306 U. S. 354 (1939), and Hill v. Texas, 316 U. S. 400 (1942), the question of discrimination in selection of the grand jury was presented on direct appeal, and there was no occasion to consider the propriety of federal collateral attack. Finally, in Castaneda v. Partida, 430 U. S. 482 (1977), the charge of grand jury discrimination was before the Court on habeas corpus, but the propriety of the use of habeas corpus to assert the claim was not raised, and hence was not decided. Id., at 508 n. 1 (Powell, J., dissenting). Until today, therefore, it has been an open question whether federal habeas corpus could be granted a state prisoner solely because the prisoner’s grand jury was discrim-inatorily chosen.3
II
The Court makes no pretense of arguing that either the history or purpose of the writ of habeas corpus supports its extension to a case such as this, where the claimant con-eededly was found guilty after a fair trial. Rather, the Court looks to the policies of the Fourteenth Amendment for justification, noting that the Amendment’s purpose was to eliminate racial discrimination such as respondents here al*583lege.4 Apart from the fact that other, more appropriate means are available for attacking discrimination in the selection of grand juries,5 the Fourteenth Amendment is irrelevant to a principled determination of when the writ of habeas corpus is a proper remedy. I know of nothing in the language or history of the Fourteenth Amendment, or the civil rights statutes implementing it, that suggests some special use of. the writ of habeas corpus. If, however, we are to assume that it is open to this Court to extend the writ to cases in which the guilt of the incarcerated claimant is hot an issue, at least we should weigh thoughtfully the societal costs that may be involved. As some of these were fully addressed in my concurring opinion in Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S. 218 (1972), I now mention the principal costs only briefly.
A
Because habeas corpus is a unique remedy which allows one court of general jurisdiction to review the correctness of the judgment of another court of general jurisdiction, its exercise entails certain costs inherent whenever there is dual *584review. It is common knowledge that prisoner actions occupy a disproportionate amount of the time and energy of the federal judiciary. In the year ending June 30, 1978, almost 9,000 of the prisoner actions filed were habeas corpus petitions. See 1978 Annual Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts 76. Apart from the burden of these petitions, many of which are frivolous, collateral review can have a particularly deleterious effect upon both the deterrent and rehabilitative functions of the criminal justice system. See Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U. S. 72, 90 (1977); Sanders v. United States, 373 U. S. 1, 24-25 (1963) (Harlan, J., dissenting); Bator 452, Friendly, Is Innocence Irrelevant? Collateral Attack on Criminal Judgments, 38 U. Chi. L. Rev. 142, 146 (1970).
Perhaps the most serious cost of extending federal habeas corpus review of state judgments is the effect upon the federal structure of our government.6 Mr. Justice Black has emphasized the importance of
“a proper respect for state functions, a recognition of the fact that the entire country is made up of a Union of separate state governments, and a continuance of the belief that the National Government will fare best if the *585States and their institutions are left free to perform their separate functions in their separate ways.” Younger v. Harris, 401 U. S. 37, 44 (1971).
See also National League of Cities v. Usery, 426 U. S. 833, 844 (1976); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, supra, at 264-265 (Powell, J., concurring). Nowhere has a “proper respect for state functions” been more essential to our federal system than in the administration of criminal justice. This Court repeatedly has recognized that criminal law is primarily the business of the States, and that absent the most extraordinary circumstances the federal courts should not interfere with the States’ administration of that law. See, e. g., Younger v. Harris, supra; Perez v. Ledesma, 401 U. S. 82 (1971).
The overextension of habeas corpus by federal courts does more than simply threaten the essential role of the States in our federal system. It runs afoul of the very principle of primary state jurisdiction over the criminal laws that the Court repeatedly has asserted. This interference with state operations is not merely academic. The review by a single federal district court judge of the considered judgment of a state trial court, an intermediate appellate court, and the highest court of the State, necessarily denigrates those institutions.7
B
The Court’s expansion of our dual system of review therefore inflicts substantial costs on society, our system of justice, *586and our federal fabric. When the claim being vindicated on federal habeas corpus is that the individual claimant is being unjustly incarcerated, these costs are justified, for the very purpose of the Great Writ is to provide some means by which the legality of an individual’s incarceration may be tested. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U. S. 475 (1973); McNally v. Hill, 293 U. S. 131, 136-137 (1934); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S., at 252-256 (Powell, J., concurring). Indeed, it is only by providing a means of releasing prisoners from custody that we can assure that no innocent person will be incarcerated, a pre-eminent objective of our criminal justice system. See Jackson v. Virginia, ante, at 315-316; In re Winship, 397 U. S. 358, 371 (1970) (Harlan, J., concurring).
Preventing discrimination in the selection of grand juries also is a goal of high priority in our system.8 But the question is not simply, as the Court seems to think, whether the goal and the interests it serves are important. Habeas corpus is not a general writ meant to promote the social good or vindicate all societal interests of even the highest priority. The question rather is whether this ancient writ, developed by the law to serve a precise and particular purpose, properly may be employed for the furthering of the general societal goal of grand jury integrity. For the provision of indictment by grand jury does not protect innocent defendants from unjust convictions. Rather, it helps to assure that innocent persons will not be made unjustly to stand trial at all. Once *587a defendant is found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a fairly drawn petit jury, following a fair trial, he hardly can claim that it was unjust to have made him stand trial.9 Because the need to protect the innocent from incarceration is not implicated in cases such as this, the writ of habeas corpus is not an appropriate remedy. Other remedies can be, and have been, provided to protect society’s interest in eliminating racial discrimination in the selection of those who are to serve on grand juries. See n. 5, 10
*588Ill
In sum, I view the Court’s extension today of federal habeas corpus to be wholly at odds with the history and purpose of the writ. Furthermore, any careful analysis of the costs and benefits of the Court’s approach plainly shows that habeas corpus should not be available for the vindication of claims, such as respondents’ grand jury discrimination claim, that have nothing to do with the fairness of the claimant’s conviction. Courts often are tempted to reach for any available remedy when they have before them a claim of intrinsic importance. In my view, however, this is an unprincipled way in which to administer the judicial process, especially when other remedies are available to protect the interests at stake. I therefore would hold that a challenge to the composition of a state prisoner’s grand jury cannot be raised in a collateral federal challenge to his incarceration, provided that a full and fair opportunity was provided in the state courts for the consideration of the federal claim.

 Both advocates and opponents of broad federal habeas corpus relief have recognized the unusual role the Great Writ plays in our federal sys-*580tern. See Bator, Finality in Criminal Law and Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners, 76 Harv. L. Rev. 441, 463 (1963); Reitz, Federal Habeas Corpus: Impact of an Abortive State Proceeding, 74 Harv. L. Rev. 1315, 1330-1331 (1961).

 Not only may the state claimant have a “rerun” of his conviction in the federal courts, but also there is no limit to the number of habeas corpus petitions such a claimant may file. The jailhouse lawyers in the prisons of this country conduct a flourishing business in repetitive habeas corpus petitions. It is not unusual to see, at this Court, a score or more of petitions filed over a period of years by the same claimant.

 Although the opinion of the Court discusses the extension of habeas corpus to claims of grand jury discrimination, this discussion is unnecessary in view of the Court’s conclusion that no prima facie case of discrimination was made out by respondents. Indeed, it may fairly be questioned whether Part II of the opinion is part of the holding of the Court, for not all of the four Members who join it support even the Court’s judgment.

 The Court explicitly bases its extension of habeas corpus in this case upon its conclusion that the constitutional interests involved in a claim of grand jury discrimination are “more compelling” than those involved in other constitutional claims. See ante, at 564. It is not clear, however, that it would be possible to cabin the Court’s rule to cases where racial discrimination is alleged. There are, of course, numerous constitutional challenges to grand jury indictments that have nothing to do with racial discrimination. The logic of the Court’s position may lead to the extension of habeas corpus to every conceivable constitutional defect in indictments.

 As Mr. Justice Stewart points out, a federal statute makes it a crime to discriminate on the basis of race in the selection of jurors, 18 U. S. C. § 243, and both Government and private actions may be brought by those improperly excluded from jury service. See Carter v. Jury Comm’n of Greene County, 396 U. S. 320 (1970). Furthermore, in the past this Court has allowed a claim of grand jury discrimination to be made on direct appeal from a conviction. See Cassell v. Texas, 339 U. S. 282 (1950). But see n. 9, infra.

 The Court suggests that “federalism concerns ... are not present” when the fairness of an indictment is challenged on federal habeas, because “[ffederal courts have grafted relief to state prisoners upon proof of the proscribed discrimination for nearly a century. See, e. g., Virginia v. Rives, 100 U. S. [313,] 322 [(1880)].” Ante, at 562. There is no logic to this reasoning. The mere fact that federal courts have reviewed some state-court decisions for nearly a century hardly supports a conclusion that no federalism concerns exist. Nor does Virginia v. Rives support the Court’s argument. In that case, the petitioner challenged the composition of his petit jury, as well as that of the grand jury that had indicted him. Whenever the fairness of the petit jury is brought into question doubts are raised as to the integrity of the process that found the prisoner guilty. See Cassell v. Texas, supra, at 301-302 (Jackson, J., dissenting). Collateral relief therefore may be justified even though it entails some damages to our federal fabric. See infra, at 586.

 The Court implies that state trial judges cannot be trusted to rule fairly on the issue here presented, because they are involved administratively in the selection of the grand jury. Ante, at 561, 563. This is a view I find wholly unacceptable. In numerous circumstances, trial judges are called upon to rule on the validity of their own judicial and administrative action. I know of no general constitutional rule requiring disqualification in such cases. I certainly would not accept an assumption at this point in our history that state judges in particular cannot be trusted fairly to consider claims of racial discrimination. See Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S. 218, 263-264, n. 20 (1973) (Powell, J., concurring).

 The Court also would justify collateral review of claims of grand jury discrimination because of the damage that such discrimination can do to the perceived integrity of the judicial system as a whole. But it ignores the damage done to society’s perception of the criminal justice system by allowing valid convictions to be reversed on collateral attack on the basis of claims having nothing to do with the defendant’s guilt or innocence. Moreover, any discriminatory action so notorious as to undermine the public’s faith in the fairness of the judiciary is likely to be remedied on direct review by the state courts and by this Court.

 Although I need not reach the question in this case, I find much of what MR. Justice Stewart says persuasive on the question whether complaints concerning the fairness of indictment should survive conviction even for purposes of direct appeal. See ante, p. 574. In his dissenting opinion in Cassell v.. Texas, Mr. Justice Jackson suggested that “any discrimination in selection of the grand jury in this case, however great the wrong toward qualified Negroes of the community, was harmless to this defendant.” 339 U. S., at 304. Until today this Court never has undertaken to answer Mr. Justice Jackson’s arguments in Cassell. Nor am I completely satisfied with today’s attempt. For purposes of this opinion, however, I shall assume that direct review of respondents’ claims was appropriate.

 Finding no support in our prior decisions for today’s extension of habeas corpus, the Court considers only whether our decision in Stone v. Powell, 428 U. S. 465 (1976), forbids federal courts to grant habeas corpus in cases such as this. Stone, of course, did not address the proper method for presenting claims of grand jury discrimination, as it involved only claims under the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule. Nonetheless, the Court overstates the differences between Stone and the present case. See ante, at 560-564. To be sure, in Stone v. Powell, supra, at 495 n. 37, we emphasized that the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule was a “judicially created remedy rather than a personal constitutional right.” We did so, however, only in rejecting the suggestion of the dissent that our decision would lead to a “drastic withdrawal of federal habeas jurisdiction,” 428 U. S., at 517, the extent of which might be unlimited. Stone recognized that the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule was not designed to protect the right of an individual to be free from unjust conviction. Thus, the justification for undermining the finality of state-court judgments that exists in many habeas corpus actions was absent. Properly understood, therefore, the rationale of our decision in Stone is not only *588consistent with denying collateral relief for claims of unfair indictment, but actually presages such a limitation on habeas corpus. For, as I have stated in the text above, the right not to be indicted by a discriminatorily selected grand jury, like the right not to have improperly obtained, but highly probative, evidence introduced at trial, has nothing to do- with the guilt or innocence of the prisoner.