On January 14, 2022, the Supreme Court granted review in two cases of note to capital habeas petitioners. In Shoop v. Twyford, 21-511, the questions presented are:
(1) 28 U.S.C. §2241(c) allows federal courts to issue a writ of habeas corpus ordering the transportation of a state prisoner only when necessary to bring the inmate into court to testify or for trial. It forbids courts from using the writ of habeas corpus to order a state prisoner’s transportation for any other reason. May federal courts evade this prohibition by using the All Writs Act to order the transportation of state prisoners for reasons not enumerated in §2241(c)? (2) Before a court grants an order allowing a habeas petitioner to develop new evidence, must it determine whether the evidence could aid the petitioner in proving his entitlement to habeas relief, and whether the evidence may permissibly be considered by a habeas court?
The case below is 11 F.4th 518 (6th Cir. 2021). Click here to view the warden's certiorari petition.
In Nance v. Ward, 21-439, the questions presented are:
(1) Whether an inmate’s as-applied method-of-execution challenge must be raised in a habeas petition instead of through a § 1983 action if the inmate pleads an alternative method of execution not currently authorized by state law. (2) Whether, if such a challenge must be raised in habeas, it constitutes a successive petition where the challenge would not have been ripe at the time of the inmate’s first habeas petition.
The case below is 981 F.3d 1201 (11th Cir. 2020). Click here to view the commissioner's certiorari petition.