| 25-955 |
Delmart Ejm Vreeland, III v. Colorado Department of Corrections, et al. |
Colorado |
2026-02-11 |
Pending |
|
constitutional-review due-process fourteenth-amendment jurisdictional-defect merits-review procedural-bar |
Whether a State violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment when it limits a defendant's ability to raise all meritorious claims on di… |
| 25-6722 |
Joseph James Craver v. Eric Guerrero, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, et al. |
Fifth Circuit |
2026-02-04 |
Pending |
IFP |
constitutional-rights habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-counsel merits-review state-proceeding unexhausted-claims |
1. Is a defendant constitutionally entitled to have his unexhausted claims heard on the merits when Defendant was not afforded counsel in the initial … |
| 25-6033 |
Willie Frank Nelson v. Tanya Demers, Acting Superintendent, Bare Hill Correctional Facility |
Second Circuit |
2025-11-05 |
Denied |
IFP |
appellate-review district-court judicial-discretion merits-review procedural-impediment statute-of-limitations |
A. The relief sought has common law analogue vi.
B. The All Writs Act empowers federal courts to issue writs "agreeable" to the usages and principles… |
| 24-1034 |
Ulysses Charles Sneed v. Terry Raybon, Warden |
Eleventh Circuit |
2025-03-28 |
Denied |
|
certificate-of-appealability circuit-split habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance merits-review sixth-amendment |
Did the court of appeals err in denying petitioner's application for a COA as to his constitutional habeas claims where (i) a circuit judge found that… |
| 24-6515 |
Joseph T. Shine-Johnson v. Shelbie Smith, Warden |
Sixth Circuit |
2025-02-10 |
Denied |
IFP |
appellate-review habeas-corpus judicial-finality merits-review procedural-grounds rule-60b |
1. Can a petitioner use the 60(b) Rule to gain Relief of Judgment from a legal error that precluded a merits review, when habeas relief was denied by … |
| 24-6370 |
Anthony Medina v. Eric Guerrero, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2025-01-23 |
Denied |
IFP |
circuit-split federal-habeas habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits-review state-court-adjudication |
1. Is the Fifth Circuit's refusal to apply this Court's definition of an adjudication "on the merits" for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) debatable am… |
| 23-7223 |
Daquan Doral Carter v. United States |
Fourth Circuit |
2024-04-15 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
appeal-waiver arraignment criminal-procedure district-court due-process merits-review plea-agreement plea-bargaining rule-11 sentencing |
Can the Government invoke an appeal waiver to preclude merits review of an appeal when the district court failed to specifically question the defendan… |
| 23-682 |
Alabama v. Marcus Bernard Williams |
Eleventh Circuit |
2023-12-26 |
GVR |
Amici (1)Relisted (2) |
AEDPA-deference habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits merits-review procedural-grounds state-court-adjudication |
While Melanie Rowell and her two toddlers slept, Marcus Williams broke into her house, crept up the stairs, climbed into Melanie's bed, strangled her … |
| 23A496 |
Moises Sandoval Mendoza v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2023-12-01 |
Presumed Complete |
|
aedpa circuit-split federal-review habeas-corpus merits-review state-court-decision |
Question not identified. |
| 23-5384 |
Wayne Lee Johnson v. United States |
Eleventh Circuit |
2023-08-18 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
appellate-procedure appellate-review attorney-withdrawal civil-procedure court-discretion due-process judicial-process legal-petition merits-review procedural-issue supreme-court writ-of-certiorari |
Wk^ther We, Lowe-C C^rt $Vovii Ia flowed co^/\$c I +o w't%d
•froAA Vchho/ie-C 5 ApP&^ j foiow/Mj H\e ?^Hf\ovier Kac$ Aie.fi / -Pof
Brief, fWi \AJ(S$ ^… |
| 22-7443 |
Reno v. Ron Broomfield, Warden |
Ninth Circuit |
2023-05-02 |
Denied |
IFP |
certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights court-of-appeals district-court habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits-review procedural-default supreme-court-precedent |
1. Whether the District Court's plain error in finding Claims 37, 86, 93, 100, and 120 were not raised in the first state habeas corpus petition, and … |
| 22-7252 |
Marlon McCay v. Kevin Genovese, Warden |
Sixth Circuit |
2023-04-11 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability due-process habeas-corpus judicial-review merits-determination merits-review petition-denial sixth-circuit standard-of-review |
Did the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals err when it denied the petitioner's petitions for a COA and rehearing despite the petitioner's showing that his… |
| 22-6140 |
Taylor Winston Wright v. United States |
Ninth Circuit |
2022-11-22 |
Denied |
Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP |
appellate-review civil-rights constitutional-claim district-court due-process judicial-review merits-review ninth-circuit procedural-violation |
CAN THE NINTH CIRCUIT FAIL TO ADDRESS THE MERITS OF A
CONSTITUTIONAL CLAIM BASED ON A PROCEDURAL VIOLATION THE
DISTRIC T COURT ADJUDICATED WRONG? |
| 22-5911 |
Clark Wesley Betts, Jr. v. United States |
Eighth Circuit |
2022-10-26 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
appellate-jurisdiction appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability civil-procedure habeas-corpus judicial-review merits merits-review procedural-order statutory-interpretation |
Is a certificate of appealability needed to appeal an order unrelated to the merits of a habeas proceeding if that order is part of an order on the me… |
| 22-5657 |
Dawud Wilson v. Leon Hill, Warden |
Sixth Circuit |
2022-09-22 |
Denied |
IFP |
and thus warrants Petitioner overcoming a state p appellate-analysis constitutional-issue constitutional-review federal-jurisdiction judicial-procedure merits-review plain-error plain-error-analysis state-appeals-court state-procedural-bar |
1. Whether the state appeals court's plain error analysis amounted to a review of the merits, and thus warrants Petitioner overcoming a state procedur… |
| 21-8090 |
Angelo C. Pearson, II v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. |
Eleventh Circuit |
2022-06-08 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
constitutional-claim constitutional-claims equitable-remedies equitable-tolling federal-habeas habeas-corpus merits-review plain-error procedural-default state-prisoner |
1) Considering that federal habeas courts maintain their power to fashion equitable remedies that allow for review and correction of otherwise barred … |
| 21-1351 |
Don Barnes, Sheriff, Orange County, California, et al. v. Melissa Ahlman, et al. |
Ninth Circuit |
2022-04-14 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
appellate-review judicial-error merits-review miller-v-french mootness preliminary-injunction prison-litigation-reform-act standing supreme-court-stay |
Whether a preliminary injunction issued under the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA") and stayed by this Honorable Court shall evade appellate revie… |
| 21-1197 |
KK-PB Financial, LLC v. 160 Royal Palm, LLC |
Eleventh Circuit |
2022-03-02 |
Denied |
|
article-iii-jurisdiction bankruptcy bankruptcy-appeals constitutional-mootness equitable-mootness federal-jurisdiction judicial-review live-controversy merits-review |
This case involves a Petitioner who timely and expeditiously sought Article III court review of two bankruptcy court decisions, but never received a r… |
| 21-880 |
Vicki Stefanini v. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company |
Ninth Circuit |
2021-12-14 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
appellate-rules court-procedure defects dismissal judicial-review legal-interpretation merits-review procedural-technicality rehearing substantial-compliance |
1. Whether a technical application of appellate rules should bar a review of the merits of an appellate case, when substantial compliance with the rul… |
| 20-8120 |
Gary Lee Willingham v. United States |
Fifth Circuit |
2021-05-25 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
28-usc-2255 acca-enhancement certificate-of-appealability district-court habeas-corpus jurisdiction merits-review post-conviction section-2255 standard-of-review summary-reversal |
After obtaining the prefiling authorization required by 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h)(2), Mr. Willingham moved to vacate his ACCA-enhanced sentence. The Governm… |
| 20-8063 |
Darius Theriot v. Bob Vashaw, Warden |
Sixth Circuit |
2021-05-18 |
Denied |
Response RequestedRelisted (2)IFP |
case-by-case-review constitutional-error federal-constitutional-error federal-habeas-corpus habeas-corpus merits-review plain-error state-court-ruling unpreserved-claim |
Whether a state court's ruling that an unpreserved claim of federal constitutional error does not meet the requirements of the "plain error" standard … |
| 20-7863 |
Martin G. Lewis v. DeWayne Hendrix, Warden |
Ninth Circuit |
2021-04-28 |
Denied |
IFP |
28-usc-2241 28-usc-2255 burrage-v-united-states detention-legality habeas-corpus jurisdictional-challenge merits-review procedural-bar retroactivity statutory-interpretation |
Whether the government should be foreclosed from relying on prior litigation that it concedes incorrectly invoked a procedural bar to review on the me… |
| 20-7457 |
Mark Andrew Morris v. United States |
Sixth Circuit |
2021-03-15 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
6th-circuit appellate-review certificate-of-appealability due-process habeas-corpus judicial-standard merits-review standard-of-review supreme-court-precedent threshold-inquiry |
1. Did the United States Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, use an improper and unduly burdensome
Certificate of Appealability (COA) standard which confl… |
| 20-7262 |
Melvin Stills v. Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania |
2021-02-26 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
appellate-review civil-procedure conflicting-opinions court-opinion due-process judicial-integrity legal-procedure merits-review record-completeness waiver |
Did the Pennsylvania Superior Court violate the due process rights of the Petitioner when it issued two opinions that conflicted on whether the record… |
| 20-7142 |
Lewis R. Fox v. David W. Gray, Warden |
Sixth Circuit |
2021-02-12 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure due-process felonious-assault habeas-corpus insufficient-evidence merits-review sixth-circuit |
Lewis Fox's federal habeas corpus petition case (Insufficient Evidence Claim) raises a pressing issue of national importance: Did the United States Co… |
| 20-7071 |
Pete Russell v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2021-02-08 |
Denied |
IFP |
certificate-of-appealability future-dangerousness habeas ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits-review strickland |
Did the Court of Appeals err in denying a certificate of appealabilty, through a merits review, of Russell's claim that he recei ved ineffect ive assi… |
| 20-5736 |
David P. Moran v. Florida |
Florida |
2020-09-17 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
anders-brief appellate-counsel fla-r-app-p-9-141(d) habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance merits-review pro-se-litigant standing writ-of-review |
Does the United States Supreme Court have the authority to review the underlying merits of an issue when the action being challenged is a petition for… |
| 19-8367 |
Brandon Blake Coleman v. Texas |
Texas |
2020-04-27 |
Denied |
IFP |
adjudication constitutional-rights due-process federal-claims fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment merits-review standing |
Whether the State of Texas has violated Petitioner's right to Due Process protections under the Fifth & Fourteenth amendments, Constitution whereas, p… |
| 19-6488 |
Javier Yebra v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2019-11-04 |
Denied |
IFP |
appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability constitutional-review due-process fifth-circuit habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits-review standard-of-review supreme-court-precedent trial-counsel |
Did the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit continue to impose an improper Certificate of Appealability (COA) standard that contraven… |
| 19-6239 |
Randell Glen Laws v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2019-10-10 |
Denied |
IFP |
appellate-jurisdiction appellate-review constitutional-rights due-process federal-courts habeas-corpus judicial-precedent jurisdictional-challenge merits-review procedural-due-process supervisory-power |
Because requisite exceptions are shown and have been met in the State and Federal
proceedings/ regardless of styling said pleading-presented claims a… |
| 19-216 |
Harold Persaud v. United States |
Sixth Circuit |
2019-08-19 |
Denied |
Response Waived |
certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure daubert-standard district-court-opinion district-court-review due-process expert-testimony habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judgment-of-conviction merits-review motion-to-vacate standard-of-review |
1. Whether Reasonable Jurists Could Debate the
Denial of Petitioner's Motion to Vacate and Set
Aside his Judgment of Conviction where the District
Cou… |
| 18-9676 |
Randy Ethan Halprin v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2019-06-14 |
Denied |
IFP |
28-usc-2254(d)(2) aedpa aedpa-deference capital-punishment-eligibility certificate-of-appealability enmund-v-florida habeas-corpus lockett-v-ohio merits-review procedural-default tison-v-arizona |
In light of these decisions, the Fifth Circuit's denial of Randy Halprin's motion for a COA gives rise to the following questions:
1. Has the Fifth C… |
| 18-9265 |
Juan Ramon Meza Segundo v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2019-05-14 |
Denied |
IFP |
aedpa capital-case circuit-split extraordinary-circumstances federal-habeas federal-habeas-proceedings federal-procedure gonzalez-v-crosby habeas-corpus merits-review procedural-defect rule-60(b) rule-60b section-3599 |
1. Does a district court's denial of Section 3599 representation services under the wrong legal standard constitute a defect in the integrity of the p… |
| 18-1334 |
Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC, et al. |
First Circuit |
2019-04-24 |
Judgment Issued |
Amici (2) |
appointments-clause article-iv constitutional-law exceptional-importance federal-government-structure federal-officers financial-oversight-and-management-board merits-review oversight-board puerto-rico separation-of-powers supreme-court territorial-government |
Whether the Appointments Clause governs the appointment of members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. |
| 18-8891 |
Warner Bernard Crider v. United States |
Sixth Circuit |
2019-04-18 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
§-2255 buck-v-davis certificate-of-appealability due-process habeas-corpus merits-review procedural-review sixth-circuit |
Crider Filed Under § 2255 fostering several issues warranting a certificate of appealability. To Crider's dismay the Sixth Circuit denied all of issue… |
| 18-8458 |
Oniel Winston Scarlett v. United States |
Eleventh Circuit |
2019-03-20 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
11th-circuit appellate-review buck-v-davis certificate-of-appealability certificate-of-appealability-coa due-process eleventh-circuit ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-reasoning merits-analysis merits-review reasonable-jurist sentencing |
Should the Eleventh Circuit provide a sufficient explanation of its order denying a COA in order that a reasonable jurist could ensue its reasoning di… |
| 18-8449 |
Juan Bustos-Chavez v. Matthew Hansen, Warden, et al. |
Tenth Circuit |
2019-03-19 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
actual-innocence alibi alibi-evidence due-process federal-courts habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits-review murray-v-carrier procedural-review |
Whether the actual innocence exception established by Murray
v. Carrier, applies to alibi evidence;
II. Whether, based on the alibi evidence submitte… |
| 18-1142 |
Casimir M. Toczylowski v. Samantha Giuliano, et vir |
Pennsylvania |
2019-03-05 |
Denied |
|
appellate-procedure appellate-procedures appellate-review civil-appeal civil-appeals civil-procedure due-process fourteenth-amendment judicial-review merits-review property-rights state-appeals state-courts |
1. When a state has by statute or constitutional
provision granted civil litigants the right to an appeal,
must the state's appellate procedures provi… |
| 18-7840 |
Tommie H. Telfair v. United States |
Third Circuit |
2019-02-07 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
dismissal-without-merits due-process miranda-v-arizona right-to-remain-silent wiggins-v-smith certificate-of-appealability due-process fundamental-rights judicial-discretion merits-review miranda-rights miranda-v-arizona right-to-remain-silent right-to-silence wiggins-v-smith |
WHETHER THE LOWER COURTS ABUSED IT'S DISCRETION
IN DENYING PETITIONER A CERTIFICATE OF
APPEALABILITY (COA) WHERE JURIST OF REASON COULD
DISAGREE WITH … |
| 18-7810 |
James Traxler v. Sherry Burt, Warden |
Sixth Circuit |
2019-02-07 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
certificate-of-appealability habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits-analysis merits-review sixth-circuit strickland-standard strickland-v-washington |
Whether The Sixth Circuit s Inquiry In Denying Petitioner's Motion For Certificate Of Appealability Was Coextensive With A Merits Analysis, When Concl… |
| 18-7741 |
Robert Sills v. United States |
Eighth Circuit |
2019-02-04 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
appellate-procedure buck-v-davis certificate-of-appealability civil-procedure due-process habeas-corpus judicial-discretion merits-adjudication merits-review |
1. Whether the Court of Appeals' denial of the petitioner's request for a certificate of appealability ("COA") wasimproper where it sidestepped the CO… |
| 18-7650 |
Robert Mitchell Jennings v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2019-01-30 |
Denied |
IFP |
appellate-review claim-exhaustion exhaustion-doctrine federal-habeas federal-habeas-review habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel johnson-v-williams judicial-legitimacy judicial-procedure merits-review procedural-default trevino-v-thaler |
Does a court contravene Johnson v. Williams, 569 U.S. 289 (2013), evade application of Trevino v. Thaler, 569 U.S. 413 (2013), and depart from the acc… |
| 18-6539 |
Allan Wayne Rencountre v. Colby Braun, Warden |
Eighth Circuit |
2018-11-01 |
Denied |
IFP |
civil-procedure constitutional-rights counsel-ineffectiveness due-process equitable-tolling habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-discretion merits-review procedural-default statutory-deadline statutory-filing-deadline |
Should the Court have granted equitable tolling with regards to the statutory filing deadline due to the ineptitude of Petitioner's retained counsel s… |
| 18-6471 |
Anthony Cardell Haynes v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
Fifth Circuit |
2018-10-29 |
Denied |
IFP |
civil-rights due-process extraordinary-circumstances fifth-circuit-review finality gonzalez-v-crosby habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel martinez merits-review rule-60(b) rule-60b strickland substantiality trevino-standard |
1. Did the Fifth Circuit majority err in finding that there were no "extraordinary circumstances" and that the claim was not sufficiently "substantial… |
| 18-5015 |
Edwin Aponte v. Eric Tice, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Smithfield, et al. |
Third Circuit |
2018-06-28 |
Denied |
Response WaivedIFP |
civil-rights confrontation-clause due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel merits-review procedural-default prosecutorial-misconduct self-defense sixth-amendment state-appellate-procedure |
A. Was petitioner's prosecutorial misconduct claim procedurally defaulted for failing to present it in state appellate procedure rule when the highest… |