28 U.S.C. § 2251

Stay of State court proceedings

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 28 CasesGoogle Scholar

(a)In General.—(1)Pending matters.—A justice or judge of the United States before whom a habeas corpus proceeding is pending, may, before final judgment or after final judgment of discharge, or pending appeal, stay any proceeding against the person detained in any State court or by or under the authority of any State for any matter involved in the habeas corpus proceeding.(2)Matter not pending.—For purposes of this section, a habeas corpus proceeding is not pending until the application is filed.(3)Application for appointment of counsel.—If a State prisoner sentenced to death applies for appointment of counsel pursuant to section 3599(a)(2) of title 18 in a court that would have jurisdiction to entertain a habeas corpus application regarding that sentence, that court may stay execution of the sentence of death, but such stay shall terminate not later than 90 days after counsel is appointed or the application for appointment of counsel is withdrawn or denied.(b)No Further Proceedings.—After the granting of such a stay, any such proceeding in any State court or by or under the authority of any State shall be void. If no stay is granted, any such proceeding shall be as valid as if no habeas corpus proceedings or appeal were pending.(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 966; Pub. L. 109–177, title V, § 507(f), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 251.)Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 465 (R.S. § 766; Mar. 3, 1893, ch. 226, 27 Stat. 751; Feb. 13, 1925, ch. 229, § 8(c), 43 Stat. 940; June 19, 1934, ch. 673, 48 Stat. 1177).

Provisions relating to proceedings pending in 1934 were deleted as obsolete.

A provision requiring an appeal to be taken within 3 months was omitted as covered by sections 2101 and 2107 of this title.

Changes were made in phraseology.

Editorial NotesAmendments

2006—Pub. L. 109–177 designated first par. of existing provisions as subsec. (a)(1) and inserted headings, added pars. (2) and (3), and designated second par. of existing provisions as subsec. (b) and inserted heading.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 2006 Amendment

Pub. L. 109–177, title V, § 507(d), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 251, provided that:“(1)In general.—This section [enacting section 2265 of this title, amending this section and sections 2261 and 2266 of this title, and repealing former section 2265 of this title] and the amendments made by this section shall apply to cases pending on or after the date of enactment of this Act [Mar. 9, 2006].“(2)Time limits.—In a case pending on the date of enactment of this Act, if the amendments made by this section establish a time limit for taking certain action, the period of which began on the date of an event that occurred prior to the date of enactment of this Act, the period of such time limit shall instead begin on the date of enactment of this Act.”

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 271 cases (29 in the last 5 years), 1950–2026 · leading case: McFarland v. Scott

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

McFarland v. Scott (1994) scotus · cites it 16× “The court noted that federal law expressly authorizes federal courts to stay state proceedings while a federal habeas corpus proceeding is pending, 28 U. S. C. § 2251 , but held that no such proceeding was pending, because a "motion for stay and for appointment of counsel [is…”

Woodford v. Garceau (2003) scotus · cites it 7× “, 28 U. S. C. §§ 2251 , 2262. I agree, however, with the Court's conclusion that the post-AEDPA version of § 2254 is applicable to Garceau's case.”

Carl J. Isaacs v. Frederick J. Head (2002) ca11 · cites it 4× “§ 848 (q)(4)(B), which creates a statutory right to qualified legal representation for capital defendants in federal habeas pro *1240 ceedings, and 28 U.S.C. § 2251 , which grants a federal judge before whom a ha-beas proceeding is pending the power to stay any related state…”

John G. Brown v. Daniel Vasquez, Warden, Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General of the State of California (1992) ca9 · cites it 7× “They contended the district court lacked jurisdiction because Brown had not filed a petition for habeas corpus relief, and thus, they argued, there was no proceeding pending before the district court on which to predicate a stay order under 28 U.S.C. § 2251 . 3 The district…”

In re: John Ruthell Henry (2014) ca11 · cites it 3× “Title 28 U.S.C. § 2251 supplies four factors we consider: “[W]hether the movant has made a showing of likelihood of success on the merits and of irreparable injury if the stay is not granted, whether the stay would substantially harm other parties, and whether granting the stay…”

O'Shea v. Littleton (1974) scotus · cites it 2× “(5) The Federal Habeas Corpus Act, 28 U. S. C. § 2251 , permitting a stay of state court proceedings when a federal habeas action is pending.”

Vendo Co. v. Lektro-Vend Corp. (1977) scotus · cites it 2× “), and the Federal Habeas Corpus Act, 28 U. S. C. § 2251 , while not directly referring to § 2283, have nonetheless explicitly authorized injunctive relief against state-court proceedings.”

David Joseph Steffen v. Arthur Tate, Jr., Warden (1994) ca6 · cites it 5× “§ 1651 , and the habeas corpus statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2251 . We find neither ground sufficient.”

Matthew Hill v. Michael Sheets (2010) ca6 · cites it 5× “In their briefs, both parties assert that Hill’s resentencing was “void” pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2251 (b). That statute states in relevant part: § 2251 Stay of State court proceedings (a) In general.”

United States v. John Terrell (2012) ca5 · cites it 2× “Transferring Images to the Computer (Count One) Next, Defendant-Appellant Terrell presents a pair of arguments related to his conviction under Count One for sexual exploitation of a child, under 28 U.S.C. § 2251 (a), which both turn on the same issue of statutory interpretation.”

Woodard v. Hutchins (1984) scotus · cites it 2× “§ 2241 , it was appropriate for Judge Phillips to treat the papers filed with him as an independent petition for a writ of habeas corpus, refer that petition to the District Court, and grant a stay under 28 U. S. C. § 2251 pending decision by the District Court.”

Bates v. Estelle (1980) txsd · cites it 9× “The Court’s power under Title 28 U.S.C. § 2251 , refers only to State court proceedings, not to service of sentences imposed by a State court.”

Show all 271 citing cases →

— 28 U.S.C. § 2251(a)(1) — 1 case

John Battaglia v. William Stephens, Director (2016) ca5

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.