Harris v. Reed

489 U.S. 255, 109 S. Ct. 1038, 103 L. Ed. 2d 308, 1989 U.S. LEXIS 1044, 57 U.S.L.W. 4224

• Court: Supreme Court of the United States
• Decided: February 22, 1989
• Docket: 87-5677
• Status: Published

Opinions

Justice Blackmun

delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this case, we consider whether the ‘“plain statement’ rule” of Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032, 1042, and n. 7 (1983), applies in a case on federal habeas review as well as in a case on direct review in this Court. We hold that it does.

I

Petitioner Warren Lee Harris was convicted in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., of murder. On direct appeal, petitioner challenged only the sufficiency of the evidence. The Appellate Court of Illinois, by an unpublished order, affirmed the conviction. App. 5; see 71 Ill. App. 3d 1113, 392 N. E. 2d 1386 (1979).

Petitioner then returned to the Circuit Court of Cook County and filed a petition for postconviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel had rendered ineffective assistance in several respects, including his failure to call alibi witnesses.¹ The court dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing. The Appellate Court of Illinois, in another unpublished order, again affirmed. App. 9.

In its order, the Appellate Court referred to the “well-settled” principle of Illinois law that “those [issues] which could have been presented [on direct appeal], but were not, are considered waived.” Id., at 12. The court found that, “except for the alibi witnesses,” petitioner’s ineffective-assistance allegations “could have been raised in [his] direct appeal.” Ibid. The court, however, went on to consider and reject petitioner’s ineffective-assistance claim on its merits.

Petitioner did not seek review in the Supreme Court of Illinois. Instead, he pursued his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim in federal court by a petition for a writ of ha-beas corpus under 28 U. S. C. §2254. The District Court recognized that if the Illinois Appellate Court had held this claim to be waived under Illinois law, this Court’s decision in Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U. S. 72 (1977), would bar a federal court’s consideration of the claim unless petitioner was able to show either “cause and prejudice” or a “miscarriage of justice.” 608 F. Supp. 1369, 1377 (ND Ill. 1985).²

The District Court, however, determined that the Illinois Appellate Court had not held any portion of the ineffective-assistance claim to have been waived. First, the District Court observed, the state court had “made clear” that the waiver did not apply to the issue of alibi witnesses. Id., at 1378. Second, the court never clearly held any other issue waived. The state court “did not appear to make two rulings in the alternative, but rather to note a procedural default and then ignore it, reaching the merits instead.” Ibid. Based on this determination, the District Court concluded that it was permitted to consider the ineffective-assistance claim in its entirety and ordered an evidentiary hearing. Id., at 1385. After that hearing, the court, in an unpublished memorandum and order, dismissed the claim on the merits, although it characterized the case as “a close and difficult” one. App. 45.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, 822 F. 2d 684 (CA7 1987), but did not reach the merits because, in disagreement with the District Court, it believed the ineffective-assistance claim to be procedurally barred. Considering the Illinois Appellate Court’s order “ambiguous” because it contained “neither an explicit finding of waiver nor an expression of an intention to ignore waiver,” the Court of Appeals nonetheless asserted that a reviewing court “should try to assess the state court’s intention to the extent that this is possible.” Id,., at 687. Undertaking this effort, the Court of Appeals concluded that the order “suggested]” an intention “to find all grounds waived except that pertaining to the alibi witnesses.” Ibid. Based on this interpretation of the order, the Court of Appeals concluded that the merits of petitioner’s federal claim had been reached only “as an alternate holding,” ibid., and considered itself precluded from reviewing the merits of the claim.³

Concurring separately, Judge Cudahy stated: “Rather than attempting to divine the unspoken ‘intent’ of [the state] court, I think we should invoke a presumption that waiver not clearly found has been condoned.” Ibid.

The disagreement between the majority and the concurrence reflects a conflict among the Courts of Appeals over the standard for determining whether a state court’s ambiguous invocation of a procedural default bars federal habeas review.⁴ We granted certiorari to resolve this conflict. 485 U. S. 934 (1988).

II

The confusion among the courts evidently stems from a failure to recognize that the procedural default rule of Wainwright v. Sykes has its historical and theoretical basis in the “adequate and independent state ground” doctrine. 433 U. S., at 78-79, 81-82, 87.⁵ Once the lineage of the rule is clarified, the cure for the confusion becomes apparent.

A

This Court long has held that it will not consider an issue of federal law on direct review from a judgment of a state court if that judgment rests on a state-law ground that is both “independent” of the merits of the federal claim and an “adequate” basis for the court’s decision. See, e. g., Fox Film Corp. v. Muller, 296 U. S. 207, 210 (1935); Murdock v. City of Memphis, 20 Wall. 590, 635-636 (1875). Although this doctrine originated in the context of state-court judgments for which the alternative state and federal grounds were both “substantive” in nature, the doctrine “has been applied routinely to state decisions forfeiting federal claims for violation of state procedural rules.” Meltzer, State Court Forfeitures of Federal Rights, 99 Harv. L. Rev. 1128, 1134 (1986).⁶

The question whether a state court’s reference to state law constitutes an adequate and independent state ground for its judgment may be rendered difficult by ambiguity in the state court’s opinion. In Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032 (1983), this Court laid down a rule to avoid the difficulties associated with such ambiguity. Under Long, if “it fairly appears that the state court rested its decision primarily on federal law,” this Court may reach the federal question on review unless the state court’s opinion contains a “ ‘plain statement’ that [its] decision rests upon adequate and independent state grounds.” Id., at 1042.⁷

The Long “plain statement” rule applies regardless of whether the disputed state-law ground is substantive (as it was in Long) or procedural, as in Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U. S. 320, 327 (1985). Thus, the mere fact that a federal claimant failed to abide by a state procedural rule does not, in and of itself, prevent this Court from reaching the federal claim: “[T]he state court must actually have relied on the procedural bar as an independent basis for its disposition of the ease.” Ibid. Furthermore, ambiguities in that regard must be resolved by application of the Long standard. Id., at 328.

B

The adequate and independent state ground doctrine, and the problem of ambiguity resolved by Long, is of concern not only in cases on direct review pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 1257, but also in federal habeas corpus proceedings pursuant to 28 U. S. C. §2254.

Wainwright v. Sykes made clear that the adequate and independent state ground doctrine applies on federal habeas. 433 U. S., at 81, 87. See also Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U. S. 140, 148 (1979). Under Sykes and its progeny, an adequate and independent finding of procedural default will bar federal habeas review of the federal claim, unless the ha-beas petitioner can show “cause” for the default and “prejudice attributable thereto,” Murray v. Carrier, 477 U. S. 478, 485 (1986), or demonstrate that failure to consider the federal claim will result in a “‘fundamental miscarriage of justice.’” Id., at 495, quoting Engle v. Isaac, 456 U. S. 107, 135 (1982). See also Smith v. Murray, 477 U. S. 527, 537 (1986).

Conversely, a federal claimant’s procedural default precludes federal habeas review, like direct review, only if the last state court rendering a judgment in the case rests its judgment on the procedural default. See Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U. S., at 327; Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U. S., at 152-154. Moreover, the question whether the state court indeed has done so is sometimes as difficult to answer on habeas review as on direct review. Just as this Court under § 1257 encounters state-court opinions that are unclear on this point, so too do the federal courts under §2254.⁸

Habeas review thus presents the same problem of ambiguity that this Court resolved in Michigan v. Long. We held in Long that unless the state court clearly expressed its reliance on an adequate and independent state-law ground, this Court may address a federal issue considered by the state court. We applied that rule in Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U. S., at 327, to a “somewhat cryptic” reference to procedural default in a state-court opinion.

Although Long and Caldwell arose on direct review, the principles underlying those decisions are not limited to direct review. Indeed, our opinion in Caldwell relied heavily upon our earlier application of the adequate and independent state ground doctrine to habeas review in Ulster County. See Caldwell, 472 U. S., at 327-328. Caldwell thus indicates that the problem of ambiguous state-court references to state law, which led to the adoption of the Long “plain statement” rule, is common to both direct and habeas review. Faced with a common problem, we adopt a common solution: a procedural default does not bar consideration of a federal claim on either direct or habeas review unless the last state court rendering a judgment in the case “ ‘clearly and expressly’ ” states that its judgment rests on a state procedural bar. Caldwell, 472 U. S., at 327, quoting Long, 463 U. S., at 1041.⁹

C

Respondents, however, urge us to adopt a different rule for habeas cases, arguing that if a state-court decision is ambiguous as to whether the judgment rests on a procedural bar, the federal court should presume that it does. Respondents claim that applying the Long “plain statement” requirement to habeas cases would harm the interests of finality, federalism, and comity. This Court has been alert in recognizing that federal habeas review touches upon these significant state interests. Wainwright v. Sykes itself reveals this. See 433 U. S., at 90-91. We believe, however, that applying Long to habeas burdens those interests only minimally, if at all. The benefits, in contrast, are substantial.

A state court remains free under the Long rule to rely on a state procedural bar and thereby to foreclose federal ha-beas review to the extent permitted by Sykes.10 Requiring a state court to be explicit in its reliance on a procedural default does not interfere unduly with state judicial decision-making. As Long itself recognized, it would be more intrusive for a federal court to second-guess a state court’s determination of state law. 463 U. S., at 1041. Moreover, state courts have become familiar with the “plain statement” requirement under Long and Caldivell. Under our decision today, a state court need do nothing more to preclude habeas review than it must do to preclude direct review.

In contrast, respondents’ proposed rule would impose substantial burdens on the federal courts. At oral argument, counsel for respondents conceded that in some circumstances, under their proposal, the federal habeas court would be forced to examine the state-court record to determine whether procedural default was argued to the state court, or would be required to undertake an extensive analysis of state law to determine whether a procedural bar was potentially applicable to the particular case. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 28-29. Much time would be lost in reviewing legal and factual issues that the state court, familiar with state law and the record before it, is better suited to address expeditiously. The “plain statement” requirement achieves the important objective of permitting the federal court rapidly to identify whether federal issues are properly presented before it. Respondents’ proposed rule would not do that.¹¹

Thus, we are not persuaded that we should depart from Long and Caldwell simply because this is a habeas case. Having extended the adequate and independent state ground doctrine to habeas cases, we now extend to habeas review the “plain statement” rule for determining whether a state court has relied on an adequate and independent state ground.¹²

hH HH

Applying the “plain statement” requirement in this case, we conclude that the Illinois Appellate Court did not “clearly and expressly” rely on waiver as a ground for rejecting any aspect of petitioner’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S., at 1041. To be sure, the state court perhaps laid the foundation for such a holding by stating that most of petitioner’s allegations “could have been raised [on] direct appeal.” App. 12. Nonetheless, as the Court of Appeals recognized, this statement falls short of an explicit reliance on a state-law ground.¹³ Accordingly, this reference to state law would not have precluded our addressing petitioner’s claim had it arisen on direct review. As is now established, it also does not preclude habeas review by the District Court.

The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

1 For a more extensive description of petitioner’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim, see the opinions of the District Court and the Court of Appeals in this case. 608 F. Supp. 1369 (ND Ill. 1985), and 822 F. 2d 684 (CA7 1987).

2 For discussion of the terms “cause and prejudice” and “miscarriage of justice,” see Murray v. Carrier, 477 U. S. 478 (1986), and Smith v. Murray, 477 U. S. 527 (1986). This opinion need not, and thus does not, address the meanings of those terms.

3 It is not clear why the Court of Appeals did not review at least the merits of petitioner’s claim concerning the failure to present alibi witnesses, inasmuch as the court acknowledged that petitioner had not waived that aspect of his claim. Nor is it clear why, even with regard to the rest of petitioner’s claim, the Court of Appeals did not consider the possibility of “cause and prejudice” or a “miscarriage of justice” under Sykes and its progeny. In view of our disposition of the ease, we need not consider these omissions.

4 Compare, e. g., Hardin v. Black, 845 F. 2d 953, 959 (CA11 1988) (federal court must address the merits of federal claim when it is unclear whether state court denied relief because of a procedural default or because of its view of the merits), with Brasier v. Douglas, 815 F. 2d 64, 65 (CA10 1987) (federal court must address the merits of federal claim whenever state court has addressed the merits of the federal claim, even if it is clear that the state court alternatively relied on a procedural bar), cert. denied, 483 U. S. 1023 (1987), and with Shepard v. Foltz, 771 F. 2d 962, 965 (CA6 1985) (when it is unclear whether the state court relied upon a procedural bar, the federal court should examine the arguments presented to the state court). See also Mann v. Dugger, 817 F. 2d 1471, 1487-1489 (CA11 1987) (Clark, J., specially concurring) (the Michigan v. Long “plain statement” rule applies on habeas as well as direct review), on rehearing en banc, 844 F. 2d 1446 (1988), cert. pending, No. 87-2073.

5 Some judges, indeed, have analyzed the problem in terms of the adequate and independent state ground doctrine. See Meadows v. Holland, 831 F. 2d 493, 504 (CA4 1987) (Winter, C. J., dissenting from en banc decision), cert. pending, No. 87-6063; Mann v. Dugger, 817 F. 2d, at 1487-1489 (Clark, J., specially concurring).

6 See, e. g., Herndon v. Georgia, 295 U. S. 441 (1935). For a discussion of whether a state procedural default ruling is “independent,” see Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U. S. 68, 74-75 (1985). On whether a state procedural default ruling is “adequate,” see Johnson v. Mississippi, 486 U. S. 578, 587 (1988). See generally P. Bator, D. Meltzer, P. Mishkin, & D. Shapiro, Hart and Wechsler’s The Federal Courts and the Federal System 590-627 (3d ed. 1988).

7 Since Long, we repeatedly have followed this “plain statement” requirement. See, e. g., Michigan v. Chesternut, 486 U. S. 567, 571, n. 3 (1988); Kentucky v. Stincer, 482 U. S. 730, 735, n. 7 (1987); Maryland v. Garrison, 480 U. S. 79, 83-84 (1987); New York v. P. J. Video, Inc., 475 U. S. 868, 872, n. 4 (1986); Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U. S. 673, 678, n. 3 (1986); New York v. Class, 475 U. S. 106, 109-110 (1986).

8 In this case, for example, both the District Court and the Court of Appeals found the Illinois Appellate Court’s opinion ambiguous on this point.

9 This rule necessarily applies only when a state court has been presented with the federal claim, as will usually be true given the requirement that a federal claimant exhaust state-court remedies before raising the claim in a federal habeas petition. See 28 U. S. C. § 2254(b). Of course, a federal habeas court need not require that a federal claim be presented to a state court if it is clear that the state court would hold the claim procedurally barred. Castille v. Peoples, post, at 351; Teague v. Lane, post, at 297-298 (plurality opinion). This case, however, does not involve an application of this exhaustion principle because petitioner did raise his ineffective-assistance claim in state court.

10 Moreover, a state court need not fear reaching the merits of a federal claim in an alternative holding. By its very definition, the adequate and independent state ground doctrine requires the federal court to honor a state holding that is a sufficient basis for the state court’s judgment, even when the state court also relies on federal law. See Fox Film Corp. v. Muller, 296 U. S. 207, 210 (1935). Thus, by applying this doctrine to ha-beas cases, Sykes curtails reconsideration of the federal issue on federal habeas as long as the state court explicitly invokes a state procedural bar rule as a separate basis for decision. In this way, a state court may reach a federal question without sacrificing its interests in finality, federalism, and comity.

11 Respondents argue that the “plain statement” requirement entails a presumption that state courts disobey their own procedural bar rules. This argument is inconsistent with Caldwell, which confirmed Long's applicability to procedural default cases. In any event, respondents themselves recognize that in some instances state courts have discretion to forgive procedural defaults. See Brief for Respondents 10-11. The “plain statement” rule relieves a federal court from having to determine whether in a given case, consistent with state law, the state court has chosen to forgive a procedural default.

12 Insofar as the dissent urges us to repudiate the application of Long in Caldwell, we decline to do so. Additionally, the dissent’s fear, poet, at 282, and n. 6, that our holding will submerge courts in a flood of improper prisoner petitions is unrealistic: a state court that wishes to rely on a procedural bar rule in a one-line proforma order easily can write that “relief is denied for reasons of procedural default.” Of course, if the state court under state law chooses not to rely on a procedural bar in such circumstances, then there is no basis for a federal habeas court’s refusing to consider the merits of the federal claim. See Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U. S. 140, 147-154 (1979).

13 While it perhaps could be argued that this statement would have sufficed had the state court never reached the federal claim, the state court clearly went on to reject the federal claim on the merits. As a result, the reference to state law in the state court’s opinion is insufficient to demonstrate clearly whether the court intended to invoke waiver as an alternative ground. It is precisely with regard to such an ambiguous reference to state law in the context of clear reliance on federal law that Long permits federal review of the federal issue. See 463 U. S., at 1040-1041.