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8JUSTICE O'CONNOR suggests that Teague and its progeny "did not establish a standard of review at all." Post, at 303-304. Instead, she contends, these cases merely prohibit the retroactive application of new rules on habeas, ibid., and establish the criterion for distinguishing new rules from old ones, ibid. We have no difficulty with describing Teague as a case about retroactivity, rather than standards of review, although we do not dispute JUSTICE O'CONNOR'S suggestion that the difference, at least in practice, might well be "only 'a matter of phrasing.''' Post, at 304 (cita-




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Teague was premised on the view that retroactivity questions in habeas corpus proceedings must take account of the nature and function of the writ, which we described as "'a collateral remedy ... not designed as a substitute for direct review.'" 489 U. S., at 306 (opinion of O'CONNOR, J.) (quoting Mackey v. United States, 401 U. S. 667, 682-683 (1971) (Harlan, J., concurring in judgments in part and dissenting in part)) (emphasis in Mackey). JUSTICE STEVENS reasoned similarly in Jackson, where he stressed that habeas corpus "is not intended as a substitute for appeal, nor as a device for reviewing the merits of guilt determinations at criminal trials," but only "to guard against extreme malfunctions in the state criminal justice systems." 443 U. S., at 332, n. 5 (opinion concurring in judgment); see also Greer v. Miller, 483 U. S. 756, 768-769 (1987) (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment). Indeed, the notion that different standards should apply on direct and collateral review runs throughout our recent habeas jurisprudence. We have said, for example, that new rules always have retroactive application to

tion omitted). We do disagree, however, with JUSTICE O'CONNOR'S definition of what constitutes a "new rule" for Teague purposes. A rule is new, she contends, if it "can be meaningfully distinguished from that established by binding precedent at the time [the] state court conviction became final." Post, at 304. This definition leads her to suggest that a habeas court must determine whether the state courts have interpreted old precedents "properly." Post, at 305. Our precedents, however, require a different standard. We have held that a rule is "new" for Teague purposes whenever its validity under existing precedents is subject to debate among "reasonable minds," Butler, 494 U. S., at 415, or among "reasonable jurists," Sawyer v. Smith, 497 U. S. 227, 234 (1990). Indeed, each of our last four relevant precedents has indicated that Teague insulates on habeas review the state courts' '''reasonable, good-faith interpretations of existing precedents.''' Ibid. (quoting Butler, supra, at 414); Saffle v. Parks, 494 U. S. 484, 488 (1990) (citing Butler); see Stringer v. Black, 503 U. S. 222, 237 (1992) ("The purpose of the new rule doctrine is to validate reasonable interpretations of existing precedents"). Thus, Teague bars habeas relief whenever the state courts have interpreted old precedents reasonably, not only when they have done so "properly." Post, at 305.




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criminal cases pending on direct review, see Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U. S. 314, 320-328 (1987), but that they generally do not have retroactive application to criminal cases pending on habeas, see Teague, supra, at 305-310 (opinion of O'CONNOR, J.). We have held that the Constitution guarantees the right to counsel on a first direct appeal, see, e. g., Douglas v. California, 372 U. S. 353, 355-358 (1963), but that it guarantees no right to counsel on habeas, see, e. g., Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U. S. 551, 555 (1987). On direct review, we have announced and enforced the rule that state courts must exclude evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. See, e. g., Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U. S. 643, 654-660 (1961). We have also held, however, that claims under Mapp are not cognizable on habeas as long as the state courts have provided a full and fair opportunity to litigate them at trial or on direct review. See Stone v. Powell, 428 U. S. 465 , 489496 (1976).

These differences simply reflect the fact that habeas review "entails significant costs." Engle v. Isaac, 456 U. S. 107, 126 (1982). Among other things, "'[i]t disturbs the State's significant interest in repose for concluded litigation, denies society the right to punish some admitted offenders, and intrudes on state sovereignty to a degree matched by few exercises of federal judicial authority.'" Duckworth v. Eagan, 492 U. S. 195, 210 (1989) (O'CONNOR, J., concurring) (quoting Harris v. Reed, 489 U. S. 255, 282 (1989) (KENNEDY, J., dissenting)). In various contexts, we have emphasized that these costs, as well as the countervailing benefits, must be taken into consideration in defining the scope of the writ. See, e. g., Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U. S. 722 , 738-739 (1991) (procedural default); McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U. S. 467, 490-493 (1991) (abuse of the writ); Teague, supra, at 308-310 (opinion of O'CONNOR, J.) (retroactivity); Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 477 U. S., at 444-455 (opinion of Powell, J.) (successive petitions); Stone v. Powell, supra, at 491-492, n. 31 (cognizability of particular claims).




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In light of these principles, petitioners ask that we reconsider our statement in Miller v. Fenton that mixed constitutional questions are "subject to plenary federal review" on habeas, 474 U. S., at 112. By its terms, Teague itself is not directly controlling, because West sought federal habeas relief under Jackson, which was decided a year before his conviction became final on direct review. Nonetheless, petitioners contend, the logic of Teague makes our statement in Miller untenable. Petitioners argue that if deferential review for reasonableness strikes an appropriate balance with respect to purely legal claims, then it must strike an appropriate balance with respect to mixed questions as well. Moreover, they note that under the habeas statute itself, a state-court determination of a purely factual question must be "presumed correct," and can be overcome only by "convincing evidence," unless one of eight statutorily enumerated exceptions is present. 28 U.S.C. 2254(d). It makes no sense, petitioners assert, for a habeas court generally to review factual determinations and legal determinations deferentially, but to review applications of law to fact de novo. Finally, petitioners find the prospect of deferential review for mixed questions at least implicit in our recent statement that Teague concerns are fully implicated "by the application of an old rule in a manner that was not dictated by precedent." Stringer v. Black, 503 U. S. 222, 228 (1992) (emphasis added). For these reasons, petitioners invite us to reaffirm that a habeas judge need not-and indeed may not-"shut his eyes" entirely to state-court applications of law to fact. Brown v. Allen, 344 U. S., at 508 (opinion of Frankfurter, J.). West develops two principal counterarguments: first, that Congress implicitly codified a de novo standard with respect to mixed constitutional questions when it amended the habeas statute in 1966; and second, that




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de novo federal review is necessary to vindicate federal constitutional rights.9

We need not decide such far-reaching issues in this case.

As in both Brown and Jackson, the claim advanced by the habeas petitioner must fail even assuming that the state court's rejection of it should be reconsidered de novo. Whatever the appropriate standard of review, we conclude that there was more than enough evidence to support West's conviction.

The case against West was strong. Two to four weeks after the Card ova home had been burglarized, over 15 of the items stolen were recovered from West's home. On direct examination at trial, West said nothing more than that he frequently bought and sold items at different flea markets. He failed to offer specific information about how he had come to acquire any of the stolen items, and he did not even mention Ronnie Elkins by name. When pressed on cros***amination about the details of his purchases, West contradicted himself repeatedly about where he supposedly had bought the stolen goods, and he gave vague, seemingly eva-

9 JUSTICE O'CONNOR criticizes our failure to highlight in text the fact that Congress has considered, but failed to enact, several bills introduced during the last 25 years to prohibit de novo review explicitly. See post, at 305; see also Brief for Senator Biden et al. as Amici Curiae 10-16 (discussing various proposals). Our task, however, is not to construe bills that Congress has failed to enact, but to construe statutes that Congress has enacted. The habeas corpus statute was last amended in 1966. See 80 Stat. 1104-1105. We have grave doubts that post-1966 legislative history is of any value in construing its provisions, for we have often observed that" 'the views of a subsequent Congress form a hazardous basis for inferring the intent of an earlier one.''' Consumer Product Safety Comm'n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U. S. 102, 117 (1980), quoting United States v. Price, 361 U. S. 304, 313 (1960). Compare also Sullivan v. Finkelstein, 496 U. S. 617, 628, n. 8 (1990) (acknowledging "all the usual difficulties inherent in relying on subsequent legislative history"), with id., at 632 (SCALIA, J., concurring in part) ("Arguments based on subsequent legislative history, like arguments based on antecedent futurity, should not be taken seriously").




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sive answers to various other questions. See n. 1, supra. He said further that he could not remember how he had acquired such major household items as a television set and a coffee table, and he failed to offer any explanation whatsoever about how he had acquired Cardova's record player, among other things. Moreover, he testified that he had acquired Card ova's second television set from a seller other than Elkins (who remained unidentified) in an entirely unrelated (but roughly contemporaneous) transaction. Finally, he failed to produce any other supporting evidence, such as testimony from Elkins, whom he claimed to have known for years and done business with on a regular basis.

As the trier of fact, the jury was entitled to disbelieve West's uncorroborated and confused testimony. In evaluating that testimony, moreover, the jury was entitled to discount West's credibility on account of his prior felony conviction, see Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-269 (1990); Sadoski v. Commonwealth, 219 Va. 1069, 254 S. E. 2d 100 (1979), and to take into account West's demeanor when testifying, which neither the Court of Appeals nor we may review. And if the jury did disbelieve West, it was further entitled to consider whatever it concluded to be perjured testimony as affirmative evidence of guilt, see, e. g., Wilson v. United States, 162 U. S. 613, 620-621 (1896); United States v. Zafiro, 945 F. 2d 881, 888 (CA7 1991) (Posner, J.), cert. granted on other grounds, 503 U. S. 935 (1992); Dyer v. MacDougall, 201 F. 2d 265, 269 (CA2 1952) (L. Hand, J.).

In Jackson, we emphasized repeatedly the deference owed to the trier of fact and, correspondingly, the sharply limited nature of constitutional sufficiency review. We said that "all of the evidence is to be considered in the light most favorable to the prosecution," 443 U. S., at 319 (emphasis in original); that the prosecution need not affirmatively "rule out every hypothesis except that of guilt," id., at 326; and that a reviewing court "faced with a record of historical facts that supports conflicting inferences must presume-even if




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it does not affirmatively appear in the record-that the trier of fact resolved any such conflicts in favor of the prosecution, and must defer to that resolution," ibid. Under these standards, we think it clear that the trial record contained sufficient evidence to support West's conviction.

Having granted relief on West's Jackson claim, the Court of Appeals declined to address West's additional claim that he was entitled to a new trial, as a matter of due process, on the basis of newly discovered evidence. See 931 F. 2d, at 271, n. 9. As that claim is not properly before us, we decline to address it here. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

JUSTICE WHITE, concurring in the judgment.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (1979), required the federal courts to deny the requested writ of habeas corpus if, under the Jackson standard, there was sufficient evidence to support West's conviction, which, as the principal opinion amply demonstrates, see ante, at 295-296 and this page, there certainly was.

JUSTICE O'CONNOR, with whom JUSTICE BLACKMUN and JUSTICE STEVENS join, concurring in the judgment.

I agree that the evidence sufficiently supported respondent's conviction. I write separately only to express disagreement with certain statements in JUSTICE THOMAS' extended discussion, ante, at 285-295, of this Court's habeas corpus jurisprudence.

First, JUSTICE THOMAS errs in describing the pre-1953 law of habeas corpus. Ante, at 285. While it is true that a state prisoner could not obtain the writ if he had been provided a full and fair hearing in the state courts, this rule governed the merits of a claim under the Due Process Clause. It was not a threshold bar to the consideration of




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other federal claims, because, with rare exceptions, there were no other federal claims available at the time. During the period JUSTICE THOMAS discusses, the guarantees of the Bill of Rights were not yet understood to apply in state criminal prosecutions. The only protections the Constitution afforded to state prisoners were those for which the text of the Constitution explicitly limited the authority of the States, most notably the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. And in the area of criminal procedure, the Due Process Clause was understood to guarantee no more than a full and fair hearing in the state courts. See, e. g., Ponzi v. Fessenden, 258 U. S. 254, 260 (1922) ("One accused of crime has a right to a full and fair trial according to the law of the government whose sovereignty he is alleged to have offended, but he has no more than that").
Thus, when the Court stated that a state prisoner who had been afforded a full and fair hearing could not obtain a writ of habeas corpus, the Court was propounding a rule of constitutional law, not a threshold requirement of habeas corpus. This is evident from the fact that the Court did not just apply this rule on habeas, but also in cases on direct review. See, e. g., Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U. S. 97, 107-108 (1934) ("[T]he presence of a defendant is a condition of due process to the extent that a fair and just hearing would be thwarted by his absence, and to that extent only"); Twining v. New Jersey, 211 U. S. 78, 110-111 (1908) ("Due process requires that the court which assumes to determine the rights of parties shall have jurisdiction, and that there shall be notice and opportunity for hearing given the parties. Subject to these two fundamental conditions, ... this court has up to this time sustained all state laws, statutory or judicially declared, regulating procedure, evidence and methods of trial, and held them to be consistent with due process of law") (citations omitted). As long as a state criminal prosecution was fairly conducted by a court of competent jurisdiction according to state law, no constitutional question was presented, whether
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