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LONCHAR v. THOMAS

No. 95-5015.

517 U.S. 314 (1996)

LONCHAR v. THOMAS, WARDEN

United States Supreme Court.

Decided April 1, 1996.

Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Paul M. Smith and Clive A. Stafford Smith.

Mary Beth Westmoreland, Senior Assistant Attorney General of Georgia, argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief were Michael J. Bowers, Attorney General, and Susan V. Boleyn, Senior Assistant Attorney General.

Breyer, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, and Ginsburg, JJ., joined. Rehnquist, C. J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, JJ., joined, p. 334.

Justice Breyer, delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case asks us to decide whether a federal court may dismiss a first federal habeas petition for general "equitable" reasons beyond those embodied in the relevant statutes, Federal Habeas Corpus Rules, and prior precedents. We decide that the Court of Appeals erred in doing so in this case. The primary "equitable" consideration favoring dismissal of the "eleventh hour" petition before us is serious delay. A Federal...

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