Kevin Johnson v. Superintendent
Brief Details
- Case No.: 23-2531
- Brief Filed: September 18, 2025
- Jurisdiction: 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
Key Topics in the Brief
Briefs
The Third Circuit contravened Supreme Court and Circuit precedent, and overrode Pennsylvania’s constitutional and statutory assignment of authority to local district attorneys, by allowing U.S. district courts to disregard in “extraordinary circumstances” a district attorney’s express waiver of procedural defenses to a §2254 habeas petition—and by defining “extraordinary circumstances” to include a prosecutor acknowledging (after review by a Conviction Integrity Unit) that a habeas claim may have merit, and therefore waiving procedural defenses so a federal court may decide the merits. The Third Circuit derided the DA’s decision as “not … normal” and a “break-down in the adversarial process.” NACDL and PACDL explained, among other things, that a public prosecutor’s duty is to do justice and remain accountable to the community that elected him, and that allowing federal courts to override an otherwise categorical bar on considering waived defenses because a local prosecutor acknowledges that previously entrenched local practices may have violated constitutional rights undermines public confidence in the courts. Indeed, the circuit’s novel exception to the waiver requirement undermines the adversary process and the separation of powers by eschewing judicial restraint and the party-presentation rule, which are fundamental to it. The novel rule also ignores federal-state comity in the §2254 context.
Author(s)
Lisa A. Mathewson, Mathewson Law LLC, Third Circuit Vice-Chair, NACDL Amicus Committee; Randolph Fiedler and Celeste Bacchi, Assistant Federal Public Defenders (D. Nevada)
