George Pappageorge v. George W. Sumner, Warden

I concur in the result. At the same time, however, I believe that the exhaustion problem warrants more extensive discussion.

Although the habeas statute speaks of the exhaustion of “the remedies available in the courts of the State,” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b), the Supreme Court has normally spoken of the exhaustion requirement in terms of the exhaustion of “federal claims” or “claims of constitutional error.” See Rose v. Lundy, - U.S. -, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 1203, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982) (emphasis added). Thus, the majority appears correct when it asserts that the Supreme Court has never explicitly decided…