824
Opinion of the Court
response to the problems and needs that provoke it, Ortega-Rodriguez v. United States, supra, at 244; Thomas v. Arn, 474 U. S. 140, 146-148 (1985).
In accord with these principles, we have held federal courts do have authority to dismiss an appeal or writ of certiorari if the party seeking relief is a fugitive while the matter is pending. Several reasons have been given for the rule. First, so long as the party cannot be found, the judgment on review may be impossible to enforce. This was the rationale of the first case to acknowledge the doctrine, Smith v. United States, supra, at 97: "It is clearly within our discretion to refuse to hear a criminal case in error, unless the convicted party, suing out the writ, is where he can be made to respond to any judgment we may render." See also Bohanan v. Nebraska, 125 U. S. 692 (1887); Eisler v. United States, 338 U. S. 189 (1949). Second, we have said an appellant's escape "disentitles" him "to call upon the resources of the Court for determination of his claims." Molinaro v. New Jersey, 396 U. S. 365, 366 (1970) (per curiam). The cases cited so far involved the dismissal of fugitives' petitions in this Court. In reviewing similar practices in state courts for conformity with the Due Process Clause, we have noted further reasons for them: Disentitlement "discourages the felony of escape and encourages voluntary surrenders," and "promotes the efficient, dignified operation" of the courts. Estelle v. Dorrough, 420 U. S. 534, 537 (1975) (per curiam) (using those reasons to justify refusing to reinstate an appeal even once an escaped appellant is recaptured). See also Allen v. Georgia, 166 U. S. 138 (1897).
Against this backdrop came our decision four Terms ago in Ortega-Rodriguez. The defendant had escaped from federal custody after conviction but before sentencing. He was sentenced in absentia, but later was recaptured and resentenced; he then filed an appeal, which was dismissed on the authority of Smith v. United States, supra, and the other disentitlement cases just described. We reversed, holding
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