Speaking of Judge Weinstein, I was recently perusing around the far corners of the internet for habeas-related stuff when I came across Judge Weinstein's "Report on 500 Habeas Corpus Cases."
It's really a crazy chapter in habeas corpus history.
After the passage of the AEDPA, the federal courts were inundated with habeas petitions. Yes, it's ironic that a statute meant to limit habeas relief actually resulted in a glut of petitions.
The flood of petitions resulted in a backlog of over 800(!) petitions in the EDNY. In 2003, Judge Weinstein bravely volunteered to clear the backlog almost all on his own and 500(!) petitions were reassigned to him for disposition. During that year, the judge decided all of them. All 500 petitions. To put that into context - we see, on approximate average, about 12 decisions a week in the district courts. That makes about 300 decisions a year. And that's for all four districts combined. Judge Weinstein pumped out 500 in a year. All by himself! And I am not sure of the exact time frame, but it appears to have been even shorter than a year. More like 9 months. Just amazing. Thank goodness I wasn't blogging back then -- I wouldn't have had time to keep up.
What happened to the 500? The judge granted habeas relief in 9 of the 500 -- 1.8%. That's less than the assumed percentage from last year -- 10 grants in approx. 312 (12*26) cases or 3.2%. But not much lower. And I am guessing the % last year is probably lower than 3.2 in actuality (I can't say that I saw every decision, but I probably did see every grant).
Otherwise, 380 of the 500 were dismissed as lacking merit. 42 were dismissed as time barred. And 99 were dismissed for various other non-substantive reasons (i.e. mixed petition, failure to prosecute, mootness, consolidation, reassignment).
At the same time, 68 certificates of appealability were granted. 68! We saw 10 last year in the district courts. I am guessing that number caused some headaches up at the Second Circuit in 2003.
His report is pretty interesting. He makes a bunch of recommendations for how the court should dispose of habeas petitions in the future. A lot of these are administrative and I don't really know if they were implemented. But as for the judges, he urged that the petitions be decided quicker. I haven't been paying too close attention to dates in the decisions, but I think it's safe to say that the EDNY judges aren't quite following that recommendation.
One other thing I want to note about the report is that, attached as an exhibit, was a document entitled "Habeas Corpus Training Materials." I have read through it. It's not bad. I remember having an objection here or there as I went through (I don't think I liked the presentation of the exhaustion & procedural bar sections). But it's not a bad place to start on a lot of habeas/substantive criminal law topics.
And, as a practical matter, it's probably a good idea to review it. The manual indicates that the manual was "well-received" inside chambers. It says that, "Clerks in New York and Connecticut reported the early editions to be quite useful." So, people on the inside may still be looking at this manual for guidance. For that reason, it's good to know what's actually in there.
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