Barefoot v. Estelle 463 U.S. 880 (1983)

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BAREFOOT v. ESTELLE 463 U.S. 880 (1983)

In Barefoot v. Estelle the Supreme Court gave its approval to expedited federal collateral review of capital punishment cases. In a 6–3 decision the Court approved the consolidation of hearings on procedural and substantive motions, the separate arguing of which had frustrated imposition of the death penalty even when the claims supporting the appeal were without merit. The opinion by Justice byron r. white declared that no constitutional right of the convict was impaired by the one-step appeals process.

Dennis J. Mahoney
(1986)