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AEDPA Statute of Limitations, Again

By Kent Scheidegger et al.

The U. S. Supreme Court heard argument today in the case of Jimenez v. Quarterman, No. 07-6984. This is another case on the AEDPA statute of limitations, which generally requires a federal habeas petition to be filed within one year of the completion of the direct appeal, with additional time for the period a state postconviction proceeding is pending. Generally, courts say they are trying to interpret statutes consistently with the intent of the legislature. How do you do that in a quirky situation that, almost certainly, never occurred to the people who wrote the law? Also, why did the Supreme Court take a case this quirky? Here is the case in a nutshell. Appointed counsel on appeal can find no arguments worth making, so he files what is called an "Anders brief" saying essentially that...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime and Consequences on November 04, 2008 (boomark / email).