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Habeas Hints: Staring Down the Two-Headed Monster: Richter-Pinholster
by Kent Russell
This column provides “habeas hints” to prisoners who are considering or handling habeas corpus petitions as their own attorneys (“in pro per”). The focus of the column is on the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), the federal habeas corpus law which now governs habeas corpus …
This column provides “habeas hints” to prisoners who are considering or handling habeas corpus petitions as their own attorneys (“in pro per”). The focus of the column is on the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), the federal habeas corpus law which now governs habeas corpus …
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More from this issue:
- FCC Order Heralds Hope for Reform of Prison Phone Industry, by John Dannenberg
- Consolidated Footnotes – Charts A to D
- Prison Phone Companies Fight for Lucrative Florida DOC Contract, by David Ganim
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Habeas Hints: Staring Down the Two-Headed Monster: Richter-Pinholster, by Kent A. Russell
- BOP Compromises on Plan to Transfer Prisoners from FCI Danbury, by Derek Gilna
- Telemedicine Behind Bars
- Third Circuit Allows Prisoner's Substitution of Deceased Guard’s Estate
- Under Fire, the Federal Bureau of Prisons Audits its Use of Solitary Confinement - and Buys a New Supermax Prison, by James Ridgeway
- The Invisible Crisis of Correctional Health Care, by Cara Tabachnick
- BOP Settles Lawsuits Related to Food Poisoning at Pennsylvania Prison, by Derek Gilna
- Ninth Circuit Affirms Finding that Claim Accrues Each Time a Request for Conjugal Visits is Denied
- California Supreme Court Addresses CDCR Gang Associate Validation
- Kansas Supreme Court Holds Inpatient Drug Treatment Time Counts as Jail Time in Consecutive Non-Drug Case
- Ninth Circuit Reinstates Disabled Prisoner's Deliberate Indifference Claim
- Eighth Circuit Initially Allows Non-Delegation Challenge to SORNA, then Reverses Course, by Derek Gilna
- No Summary Judgment on Claim that Guard Stole Prisoner’s Wedding Ring
- Wyoming Sheriff Granted Qualified Immunity for Jail Guard’s Sexual Assault
- Ninth Circuit: Residential Reentry Center Walkaway is Not Escape
- Minnesota: Favorable Resolution of Charges Establishes Rebuttable Presumption of Expungement
- Kansas Supreme Court Vacates Attorney Fee Reimbursement Order
- Possession of Cell Phone Doesn’t Violate Nevada Escape Device Statute
- Iowa Voting Rights Restoration Process Becomes Slightly Less Onerous
- Massachusetts Warden Removed After Eight Months on the Job
- Elder Abuse in Prisons: The Call for Elder Justice and Human Rights Protections Behind Bars, by Tina Maschi
- New York City’s Revised Indigent Defense Services Plan Upheld
- British Court Blocks Sex Offender’s Extradition to U.S. Due to “Draconian” Civil Commitment Policies
- News in Brief
More from Kent A. Russell:
- Habeas Hints: Understanding and Satisfying the Strickland Test for IAC, May 15, 2018
- Rundown on California Propositions 57 and 64, Jan. 10, 2017
- Habeas Hints: Staring Down the Two-Headed Monster: Richter-Pinholster, Dec. 15, 2013
- Habeas Hints: Staring Down the Two-Headed Monster: Richter-Pinholster, Nov. 15, 2013
- Habeas Hints: Actual Innocence, Sept. 15, 2013
- Habeas Hints: 2012 Supreme Court Habeas Highlights: Plea Bargaining Cases, Sept. 15, 2012
- Habeas Hints: Expert Testimony in Habeas Cases, Aug. 15, 2011
- Habeas Hints: The Year in Review, Feb. 15, 2011
- Habeas Hints: Certificate of Appealability, June 15, 2010
- HABEAS HINTS – CALIFORNIA COMMENT Pace and Bonner: Avoiding and Fighting “Untimeliness” Rulings Under California Law, Dec. 15, 2009
More from these topics:
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026. Limitations, Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Appealable Issues/Orders, Failure to Address/Advise Defendant.
- SCOTUS Announces Sentencing Reform Act Does Not Authorize Automatic Extension of Supervised Release When Defendant Absconds, Resolving Circuit Split, April 1, 2026. Sentencing, Revocation/Modification of Probation, etc., Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Sentences - Corrections or Modifications of, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
- SCOTUS Sides with Federal Prisoner in Habeas Review Case, March 1, 2026. Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Mandatory Minimum Sentence, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Predicate Acts/Offenses.
- SCOTUS Announces Federal Prisoners May Seek Certiorari Review of Authorization Denials Under § 2255(h) and Are Not Subject to § 2244(b)(1)’s Bar on Previously Presented Claims, Feb. 1, 2026. Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Appealable Issues/Orders, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Authority and Jurisdiction.
- California Court of Appeal: Trial Courts Have Inherent Authority to Correct Unauthorized Sentences at Any Time Without Habeas Petition, Jan. 1, 2026. Habeas Corpus, Possession or Use of Firearms, Sentences - Authorized, Sentences - Corrections or Modifications of, Effect of Vacatur.
- First Circuit Announces Modification of Juvenile’s Life-Without-Parole Sentence to Parole-Eligible Life Term Constitutes “New Judgment” Under AEDPA, Exempting Second-in-Time Habeas Petition From Gatekeeping Requirements, Jan. 1, 2026. Parole, Habeas Corpus, Life without Parole (LWOP), AEDPA, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders.
- Supreme Court of Maryland Announces Division of Correction Must Immediately Apply Time-Served Credit Against Valid Sentences When Convictions Are Vacated and May Not Toll Execution Pending Reprosecution; New Sentences Arising From New Convictions Take, Jan. 1, 2026. Habeas Corpus, Overdetention, Effect of Vacatur, Credits, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences.
- Alabama Supreme Court Denies DOC’s Improper Venue Objection, Jan. 1, 2026. Defenses, Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Failure to Object, Authority and Jurisdiction.
- Ninth Circuit Grants Equitable Tolling Under AEDPA Where Attorney Abandoned Prisoner by Failing to Communicate for Nine Months and Prison Officials Delayed Processing Filing Documents, Dec. 15, 2025. Attorney Misconduct, Legal Materials, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Limitations, AEDPA.
- DOJ Leaves Louisiana Over-Detention Suit on Life Support, Two Others Granted Class-Action Status, Dec. 1, 2025. Class Certification, Habeas Corpus, Overdetention, Fourteenth Amendment, rights, Unlawful Detention.

