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Discretionary Procedural Rulings In Appellate Matters Are Not Automatically Inadequate For the Purposes of the Adequate State Ground Doctrine

By Walin & Klarich

In answering the question of whether discretionary procedural rulings are "automatically inadequate" to bar federal habeas corpus review, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that a state procedural rule is not automatically "inadequate" under the adequate state ground doctrine because the state rule is discretionary rather than mandatory. ?Beard v. Kindler ?Dec. 8, 2009? 08-992, 2009 U.S. LEXIS 8944?. Under the adequate state ground doctrine, a federal habeas court will not review a claim rejected by a state court if the decision of the state court rests on a state law ground that is independent of the federal question and adequate to support the judgment. Federal courts frame the adequacy inquiry by asking whether the state rule was "firmly established and regularly followed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on February 20, 2010 (boomark / email).