Racial Justice and Federal Habeas Corpus as Post-Conviction Relief from State Convictions

Abstract

It is the purpose of this article to not simply document the influence of race on our criminal system and its role in the current racial crisis of over-representation 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 post-conviction remedy. By looking first at how race served at the root of a procedural due process reform, begun in earnest during the Warren Court, this article will then note the importance played by federal habeas corpus as a post-conviction remedy as well as the unique nature and suitability of this “extraordinary writ” to bring about transformative change.