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AEDPA, equitable tolling, and SCOTUS "umpires" with empathy

By Douglas A. Berman

I may not get a chance until tonight to read closely the Supreme Court's opinions today in Holland v. Florida (available here). But I think it is worth an early comment that the Court's conclusion that the habeas corpus statute of limitations in AEDPA is subject to "equitable tolling" comes out as an 7-2 outcome AND  that Chief Justice Roberts fully joins Justice Breyer's opinion for the Court.  Moreover, this final paragraph of Justice Scalia's dissent in Holland prompts the title of this post: The Court?s impulse to intervene when a litigant?s lawyer has made mistakes is understandable; the temptation to tinker with technical rules to achieve what appears ajust result is often strong, especially when the client faces a capital sentence.  But the Constitution does not empower federal courts to rewrite, in the name of equity, rules that Congress has made...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 14, 2010 (boomark / email).