Alex Beverly v. Janet Reno

POSNER, Chief Judge.

After his conviction for federal narcotics violations was affirmed, United States v. Beverly, 913 F.2d 337 (7th Cir.1990), Alex Beverly brought this civil suit to obtain a declaration that the statute under which he was convicted is unconstitutional. Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). Beverly had not made this claim in his appeal from his conviction, and he has offered no excuse for failing to do so. If, therefore, he had sought to attack the statute by instituting a postconviction proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, the…