54
Blackmun, J., dissenting
notice, Act of Apr. 29, 1955, ch. 387, § 2(1), 1955 Ore. Laws 435, and the California law required trial "within ninety days after [he] shall have delivered" his request to the prosecutor, Act of May 28, 1931, ch. 486, § 1, 1931 Cal. Stats. 1060-1061. If, as Michigan insists here, see Tr. of Oral Arg. 23, 26, 37, the Council's use of "caused to be delivered" was somehow meant to convey "actual receipt," then the drafters' failure to follow the clear and uncomplicated model offered by the Oregon provision is puzzling in the extreme. When asked at oral argument about this failure, counsel for amicus the United States replied that "the problem with using the verb receive rather than the verb deliver in Article III is that . . . [t]hat would shift the focus away from the prisoner, and the prisoner has a vital role under article III . . . because he initiates the process." Id., at 41. I submit that the focus on the prisoner is precisely the point, and that the reason the drafters used the language they did is because the 180-day provision is triggered by the action of the inmate.
Nevertheless, the majority finds the disputed language to be ambiguous, ante, at 47-48, and it exhibits no interest in the history of the IAD. Instead, the majority asserts that the answer to the problem is to be found in "the sense of the matter." Ante, at 49. But petitioner's reading prevails in the arena of "sense," as well.
I turn first to the majority's assumption that the 180-day provision is not triggered if the request is never delivered. Because "the IAD unquestionably requires delivery, and only after that has occurred can one entertain the possibility of counting the 180 days from the transmittal to the warden," ante, at 50, the majority attacks as illogical a reading under which the negligent or malicious warden—who can prevent entirely the operation of the 180-day rule simply by failing to forward the prisoner's request—could not delay the starting of the clock. Ante, at 49-50. That premise is flawed. Obviously, the rule anticipates actual delivery. Article III(b) requires prison officials to forward a prisoner's request
Page: Index Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007