Emile Weston, Jr. v. Maurice Sigler, Warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary

The Per Curiam opinion assumes that the District Court denied the Petition for Habeas Corpus because Weston had failed to exhaust his remedies in the State Courts of Louisiana, citing and quoting the language of 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254. In my opinion, the District Court should have granted the motion of the State of Louisiana to dismiss the application and should have declined to stay the execution because of lack of jurisdiction.

Its power to act, entirely statutory, was based upon Part VI, Chapter 153, of the Judicial Code, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2241-2254, inclusive, pertinent portions of which read:

“The…