858
Stevens, J., dissenting
brief in state postconviction review just three days after the State's deadline.
Surely the Illinois Supreme Court's discretionary review rule and respondent's attempt to follow it are entitled to at least as much respect. It is reasonable to assume that the Illinois Supreme Court, like this Court, has established a discretionary review system in order to reserve its resources for issues of broad significance. Claims of violations of well-established constitutional rules, important as they may be to individual litigants, do not ordinarily present such issues.
Discretionary review rules not only provide an effective tool for apportioning limited resources, but also foster more useful and effective advocacy. We have recognized on numerous occasions that the "process of 'winnowing out weaker arguments on appeal and focusing on' those more likely to prevail . . . is the hallmark of effective appellate advocacy.' " Smith v. Murray, 477 U. S. 527, 536 (1986) (quoting Jones v. Barnes, 463 U. S. 745, 751-752 (1983)). This maxim is even more germane regarding petitions for certiorari. The most helpful and persuasive petitions for certiorari to this Court usually present only one or two issues, and spend a considerable amount of time explaining why those questions of law have sweeping importance and have divided or confused other courts. Given the page limitations that we impose, a litigant cannot write such a petition if he decides, or is required, to raise every claim that might possibly warrant reversal in his particular case.
The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found that these same factors animate the Illinois Supreme Court's discretionary review rule. See 135 F. 3d 1194, 1200 (1998). It also pointed out that Illinois courts in state habeas proceedings dismiss claims like respondent's on res judicata— not waiver—grounds once they have been pressed at trial and on direct appeal; it makes no difference whether the prisoner has raised the claim in a petition for review to
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