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Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
Preiser v. Rodriguez No. 71-1369 Argued January 9, 1973 Decided May 7, 1973 411 U.S. 475
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
Syllabus
Respondents were state prisoners who had elected to participate in New York’s conditional release program, by which a prisoner serving an indeterminate sentence may earn up to 10 days per month good behavior time credits toward reduction of his maximum sentence. For in-prison disciplinary reasons, the good time credits of each were canceled. Each respondent brought a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, in conjunction with a habeas corpus action, claiming that his credits were unconstitutionally canceled and seeking their restoration. The District Court in each case viewed the habeas corpus claim merely as an adjunct to the civil rights action, thus obviating the need for exhaustion of state remedies, and, on the merits, ruled for the respondent, a ruling that, in each case, entitled him to immediate release on parole. The Court of Appeals consolidated the actions and affirmed.
Held: When a state prisoner challenges the fact or duration of his physical imprisonment and, by way of relief, seeks a determination that he is entitled to immediate release or a speedier release, his sole federal remedy is a writ of habeas corpus. Pp. 488-499.
(a) Although the broad language of § 1983 seems literally to apply, Congress’ enactment of the specific federal habeas corpus statute, with its requirement that a state prisoner exhaust state remedies, was intended to provide the exclusive means of relief in this type of situation. Pp. 488-490.
(b) The policy of exhaustion in federal habeas corpus actions, which is rooted in considerations of federal state comity, has as much relevance in an attack on the actions of the state prison administration as it does in an attack on the actions of a state court; and that policy applies here, where respondents sought no damages, but only a ruling that they were entitled to immediate release or a speedier release. Pp. 490-494.
(c) Recent decisions of the Court relied on by respondents, upholding state prisoners’ civil rights actions, are inapposite to the situation here, for the prisoners in those cases challenged only the conditions of their confinement, not the fact or duration of that confinement itself. Pp. 498-499.
456 F.2d 79, reversed.
STEWART, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and WHITE, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., .joined. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which DOUGLAS and MARSHALL, JJ., joined, post, p. 500.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973) in 411 U.S. 475 411 U.S. 476. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6321EDS3YCX5Z25.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973), in 411 U.S. 475, page 411 U.S. 476. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6321EDS3YCX5Z25.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973). cited in 1973, 411 U.S. 475, pp.411 U.S. 476. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=6321EDS3YCX5Z25.
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