The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has been one of the more divided appellate courts, particularly when it comes to habeas cases. Ideological splits on the court are common in such cases, especially so in capital cases or when claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are raised. Some judges on the Sixth […]
Archive | Habeas
One More 5-4 Decision
This morning, with its end-of-term orders, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 per curiam opinion in Sears v. Upton, a capital habeas case in which five justices voted to grant the petition of ceriorari, summarily vacate the decision below, and remand for further proceedings. According to the brief per curiam opinion, after determining that Sears […]
Is the Sixth Now the “Most Reversed” Circuit?
The Daily Journal reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has gone 0-5 before the Supreme Court this term. As I noted here, all five cases were pro-prisoner habeas cases. The article discusses the role of the Michigan AG’s office in encouraging the Supreme Court to review the Sixth Circuit’s habeas […]
Is the Sixth Circuit the New Ninth (At Least in Habeas Cases)?
With today’s decision in Berghuis v. Thompkins the Supreme Court has once again reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in a habeas case. Indeed, this is the fifthsuch reversal this year. In each case, a panel of the Sixth Circuit granted a prisoner’s habeas corpus petition. In each case, the Supreme Court […]
No Habeas Jurisdiction Over Bagram Air Force Base
This morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit handed down its opinion in Al Maqaleh v. Gates. The opinion for the court, by Chief Judge David Sentelle and joined by Judge David Tatel and Senior Judge Harry Edwards, begins: Three detainees at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan petitioned the district court […]
Sixth Circuit Now 0-4 in Habeas Cases This Term
This morning the Supreme Court released its opinion in Renico v. Lett. By a vote of 6-3, the Court overturned a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granting habeas relief to Reginald Lett, who had been convicted of murder in Michigan. Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion begins with the following […]
Sixth Circuit 0-3 in Habeas Cases This Term
This morning, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Berghuis v. Smith. The Court held, in an opinion by Justice Ginsburg, that the Sixth Circuit had erroneously concluded that the Michigan Supreme Court’s rejection of criminal defendant Diapolis Smith’s Sixth Amendment claim involved an unreasonable application of […]
Where is Gao Zisheng?
One of the foremost attorneys in China, Gao Zisheng believed in the rule of law, and began to try to use the law to protect human rights. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) describes what happened next: He wrote an open letter to the United States Congress asking us to pay some attention to the lack of […]
Court Reverses in Smith v. Spisak
By Jonathan H. Adler on January 12, 2010 10:58 am in Criminal Procedure, Habeas, Sixth Circuit, Supreme Court
The Supreme Court released one opinion today — and it was not the eagerly anticipated Citizens United. The Court released another habeas decision instead. In Smith v. Spisak, a unanimous Court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s grant of death-row inmate Frank Spisak’s habeas petition. Justice Breyer wrote the opinion, and […]
D.C. Circuit Upholds Broad Detention Authority
Earlier today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit released its opinion in Al Bihani v. Obama, its first substantive post-Boumediene Guantanamo detainee habeas decision. In an opinion by Judge Janice Rogers Brown, the court rejected Al Bihani’s habeas claims, affirmed the district court’s denial of his habeas petition and embraced a fairly […]
Ineffective Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Decisions
This week, for the third time this term, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s handling of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim in a capital case with a per curiam opinion. In the first two cases, Bobby v. Van Hook (6th Circuit) and Wong v. Belmontes (9th Circuit), the Court vacated lower court decisions […]
“It Is a Bad Idea . . . to Leave the Judge with a Smoldering Suspicion . . .”
On Friday, in Johnson v. Sherry, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the district court’s denial of William Johnson’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus and remanded the case for additional proceedings to determine whether Johnson received inadequate assistance of counsel. In his habeas petition, Johnson […]
When Ineffective Assistance Becomes Malpractice
Ineffective assistance of counsel is a common habeas petition claim, particularly in capital cases. This has led me to wonder whether legal representation that is constitutionally deficient should presumptively constitute legal malpractice. After all, for a capital defendant, effective assistance of counsel can be a matter of life and death. Yet it is rare that […]
Good Luck, Mike
This morning, at the U.S. Supreme Court, my colleague Michael Benza will argue on behalf of the respondent in Smith v. Spisak. He will argue that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit correctly granted a writ of habeas corpus to death row inmate Frank Spisak due to constitutionally defective jury instructions and […]