Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.,Brennan, William J., Jr.;Fay v. Noia[Fay v. Noia] wrote for the 6-3 majority, upholding the right of state prisoners to use habeas corpus petitions in federal courts even if they have failed to comply strictly with state statute-of-limitation provisions. Basically, the Supreme Court abandoned its earlier ruling that the exhaustion of state remedies had to include a petition to be heard by the Court (certiorari). Because so few certiorari petitions are granted and the process is so time-consuming, it is a burdensome requirement. In this case, defendant Noia had been convicted of murder with the use of a coerced confession in a state court despite the Court’s prior prohibition on the use of coerced confessions. The state admitted this and relied solely on Noia’s failure to file a timely appeal from the state appellate court, a technicality that the Court did not find compelling under the circumstances, although it did satisfy the dissenting justices: Tom C. Clark, John M. Harlan II, and Potter Stewart.Due process, procedural;Fay v. Noia[Fay v. Noia]

Certiorari, writ of

Federalism

Habeas corpus