Bunkley v. Florida, 538 U.S. 835, 10 (2003) (per curiam)

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844

BUNKLEY v. FLORIDA

Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting

that the Florida Supreme Court reevaluate the sufficiency of the evidence in this case. See ante, at 840, 842 (holding that Florida Supreme Court must answer whether "Bunkley's pocketknife . . . fit within [Fla. Stat.] § 790.001(13)'s 'common pocketknife' exception at the time his conviction became final"). The Court announces this conclusion as a matter of "Fiore" without explaining why due process requires it. The Court's holding is a new one, and its criticism of the state court for failing to anticipate this holding is unjustified.2 The Florida Supreme Court, moreover, has essentially answered the question on which the Court now remands.3

The Court's decision to expand Fiore is not only new, it also unjustifiably interferes with States' interest in finality. The Florida courts have already considered several times the question this Court now asks them to answer. On direct appeal, petitioner specifically argued that a knife with a

2 The Court further criticizes the Florida Supreme Court for its workmanship in the decision under review. Thus, while it recognizes the Florida court's conclusion that L. B. did not state the law at the time of petitioner's conviction, the Court reprimands the Florida court for failing to reach its holding in a sufficiently clear manner. See, e. g., ante, at 842 ("Without further clarification from the Florida Supreme Court . . . we cannot know whether L. B. correctly stated the common pocketknife exception at the time [petitioner] was convicted"). This rebuke to the state court violates the well-established rule that this Court will not "require state courts to reconsider cases to clarify the grounds of their decisions." Michigan v. Long, 463 U. S. 1032, 1040 (1983); see also id., at 1041 (noting the Court's desire to "avoi[d] the unsatisfactory and intrusive practice of requiring state courts to clarify their decisions to the satisfaction of this Court").

3 The state court explained that "[a]lthough some courts" prior to L. B. "may have interpreted 'common pocketknife' contrary to the holding in L. B., each court nevertheless sought to comply with legislative intent and to rule in harmony with the law as it was interpreted at that point in time." 833 So. 2d 739, 745 (Fla. 2002). Thus, the court explained, "none of the convictions imposed pursuant to section 790.001(13) violated the Due Process Clause." Ibid.

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