Racial Justice and Federal Habeas Corpus as Postconviction Relief from State Convictions
Abstract
It is the purpose of this Article not to simply document the influence of race on our criminal system and its role in the current racial crisis of overrepresentation of minorities in our prisons, but rather to focus on the future and importance of a key tool in the struggle for racial equity – federal habeas corpus as a postconviction remedy. By looking first at the racial context of several “landmark” criminal justice reform decisions, this Article considers how race serves as the root of the procedural due process reform that began in earnest during the Warren Court. This Article then notes the important role played by federal habeas corpus as a postconviciton remedy as well as the unique nature and suitability of this “extraordinary writ” to bring about transformative change.