Cite as: 506 U. S. 20 (1992)
Syllabus
tacked. In the absence of an allegation of government misconduct, it cannot be presumed from the mere unavailability of a transcript on collateral review that a defendant was not advised of his rights. Burgett v. Texas, 389 U. S. 109, distinguished. The presumption of regularity makes it appropriate to assign a proof burden to the defendant even when a collateral attack rests on constitutional grounds. And the difficulty of proving the invalidity of convictions entered many years ago does not make it fundamentally unfair to place a burden of production on the defendant, since the government may not have superior access to evidence. Nor is Raley's position supported by the state courts' historical treatment of defendants in recidivism proceedings, the wide range of contemporary state practices regarding the allocation of the proof burden, or interpretations of analogous federal laws, see, e. g., United States v. Gallman, 907 F. 2d 639, 643-645. Pp. 28-34. (c) Due process does not require the Commonwealth to prove the validity of a prior conviction by clear and convincing extrarecord evidence. Even if Boykin had addressed the question of measure of proof, it would not necessarily follow that the same standard should apply in recidivism proceedings. Given the difficulties of proof for both sides, it is not fundamentally unfair to require something less than clear and convincing evidence when the government is assigned the burden of persuasion. There is no historical tradition setting the standard at this particular level, and contemporary practice is far from uniform. Pp. 34-35. 2. The Kentucky courts properly concluded that Raley's 1981 guilty plea was valid. Their factual determinations are entitled to the presumption of correctness accorded state court factual findings under 28 U. S. C. § 2254(d). Marshall v. Lonberger, 459 U. S. 422, 431-432. The Kentucky Court of Appeals fairly inferred from Raley's 1979 experience that he understood the consequences of his 1981 plea. See, e. g., id., at 437. That, combined with his admission that he understood the charges against him and his self-serving testimony that he could not remember whether the trial judge advised him of other rights, satisfied every court that has considered the issue that the government carried its burden of persuasion under the Kentucky scheme. It cannot be said that this was error. Pp. 35-37.
945 F. 2d 137, reversed.
O'Connor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and White, Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, and Thomas, JJ., joined. Blackmun, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, post, p. 37.
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