Granberry v. Greer, Warden (481 U.S. 129)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 21, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 481 U.S. 129 · 107 S. Ct. 1671
- Decided
- April 21, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioner, a state prisoner, applied to the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 2254. The Magistrate to whom the District Court referred the case ordered the State of Illinois to file an answer; the State instead filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, arguing that the petition failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The District Court adopted the Magistrate’s recommendation and dismissed the petition on the merits. When petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, respondent for the first time interposed the defense that petitioner had not exhausted his state remedies. In response, petitioner contended that the State had waived that defense by failing to raise it in the District Court. The Court of Appeals rejected the waiver argument and remanded the cause to the District Court with instructions to dismiss without prejudice. Granberry v. Mizell, 780 F. 2d 14 (1985). Because the Courts of Appeals have given different answers to the question whether the State’s failure to raise nonexhaustion in the district court constitutes a waiver of that defense in the court of appeals, we granted certiorari. 479 U. S. 813 (1986). How an appellate court ought to handle a…
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