The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in the following cases involving issues of interest to capital habeas litigators:
Samia v. United States, 22-196 (cert. petition granted December 13, 2022)
(case below: 2nd Cir. (unpublished))
Question presented:
Whether admitting a codefendant’s redacted out-of-court confession that immediately inculpates a defendant based on the surrounding context violates the defendant’s rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment.
Click here to view Samia's merits brief. Click here to view the respondent's merits brief. Click here to view Samia's reply brief. Click here to listen to the argument, which was heard on March 29, 2023.
Jones v. Hendrix, 21-857 (cert. petition granted May 16, 2022)
(case below: 8 F.4th 683 (8th Cir.))
Question presented:
Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, federal inmates can collaterally challenge their convictions on any ground cognizable on collateral review, with successive attacks limited to certain claims that indicate factual innocence or that rely on constitutional-law decisions made retroactive by this Court. 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h). 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e), however, also allows inmates to collaterally challenge their convictions outside this process through a traditional habeas action under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 whenever it “appears that the remedy by [§ 2255] motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of [their] detention.”
The question presented is whether federal inmates who did not—because established circuit precedent stood firmly against them—challenge their convictions on the ground that the statute of conviction did not criminalize their activity may apply for habeas relief under § 2241 after this Court later makes clear in a retroactively applicable decision that the circuit precedent was wrong and that they are legally innocent of the crime of conviction.
Click here to view the certiorari petition. Click here to view Brief for Petitioner. Click here to view Habeas Scholars as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner. Click here to view Brief of National Association of Federal Defenders as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner. Click here to view Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, et. al., in Support of Petitioner. Click here to view the Brief of the Respondent. Argument was heard on November 1, 2022.