Lackawanna County District Attorney, et al. v. Edward R. Coss, JR. (532 U.S. 394)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 25, 2001 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 532 U.S. 394 · 121 S. Ct. 1567
- Decided
- April 25, 2001
- Term
- October Term 2000
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice O'Connor
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court, except as to Parts III-B and III-C. For the second time this Term, we are faced with the question whether federal posteonviction relief is available when a prisoner challenges a current sentence on the ground that it was enhanced based'on an allegedly unconstitutional prior conviction for which the petitioner is no longer in custody. In Daniels v. United States, ante, p. 374, we held that such relief is generally not available to a federal prisoner through a motion to vacate the sentence under 28 U.S. C. §2255 (1994 ed., Supp. V), but left open the possibility that relief might be appropriate in rare circumstances. We now hold that relief is similarly unavailable to state prisoners through a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U. S. C. §2254 (1994 ed. and Supp. V). I Respondent Edward R. Coss, Jr., has an extensive criminal record. By the age of 16, he had been adjudged a juvenile delinquent on five separate occasions for offenses including theft, disorderly conduct, assault, and burglary. See Record Doc. No. 101 (PI. Exh. 5, pp. 4-6). By the time he turned 23, Coss had been convicted in adult court of assault, institutional vandalism, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, and possession of a controlled substance. See id., at 6-7. His record also reveals arrests for assault, making terroristic threats, delivery…
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