Grass v. Reitz

The court’s seemingly straightforward analysis of exhaustion of state remedies makes no mention of the elephant in the room — this court’s problematic decision in Revels v. Sanders, 519 F.3d 734 (8th Cir. 2008). The district court’s ruling on exhaustion was premised on a dilemma created by Revels. It was an understandable effort to avoid the inefficiency and affront to federal-state comity that would arise from duplicative and simultaneous federal and state court proceedings to determine whether Lloyd Grass presently suffers from a mental illness. Although I agree with the court that Grass…