Cite as: 513 U. S. 432 (1995)
Thomas, J., dissenting
lays claim to the moral high ground: "[W]e are dealing here with an error of constitutional dimension—the sort that risks an unreliable trial outcome and the consequent conviction of an innocent person." Ibid. The Court suggests that when there is a grave doubt about the harmfulness of an error, "a legal rule requiring issuance of the writ will, at least often, avoid a grievous wrong—holding a person 'in custody in violation of the Constitution . . . of the United States.' " Ibid. (quoting 28 U. S. C. §§ 2241(c)(3), 2254(a)).
The Court concedes that there are other interests at stake—a State's interest in the finality of its judgments and the promotion of federal-state comity, see ante, at 443—but goes on to set these principles aside. The Court concludes that the State's interest in finality, while "legitimate and important," ibid., is diminished by the fact that "the number of acquittals wrongly caused by grant of the writ and delayed retrial . . . will be small when compared with the number of persons whom [the] opposite rule . . . would wrongly imprison or execute," ibid.
Despite its rhetoric, the Court itself is merely balancing the costs and benefits associated with disturbing judgments when a court is in grave doubt about harm. The Court decides that the possibility of unlawful custody should lead to the adoption of its grave doubt rule. But because the Court draws the line at "grave doubt" rather than "significant doubt" or "any doubt," it is not willing to go as far as it must in order to ensure that no one is unlawfully imprisoned. Thus, under the majority's assumptions, even its own rule will guarantee that "many, in fact, will be held in unlawful custody." Ante, at 442.
It is important to recognize, moreover, that when the Court discusses erroneous imprisonments and executions, it is not addressing questions of innocence or guilt. The standard for judging harmlessness in habeas cases certainly does not turn on the innocence of the habeas petitioner. In fact, the Court's rule applies only when the habeas court can-
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