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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:
- The Too-Many Prisoners Dilemma, by Dan Froomkin
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Texas Judges Rarely Disciplined, Seldom Publicly, by Matthew Clarke
- Habeas Hints: Staring Down the Two-Headed Monster: Richter-Pinholster, by Kent A. Russell
- The Real Costs of Incarceration in the United States
- Attorney Fees Not Exempt from Disclosure Under California Public Records Act
- PLN Files Censorship Suit Against Nevada DOC
- Traumatic Brain Injury Rate High Among Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
- Debtors' Prisons Returning to America, by David Reutter
- Hell on Earth: Sexual Victimization of the Criminally Insane, by David Rosen
- China Vows to Finance Incarceration with Public Funds, Not Prison Profits
- Oregon Considers Subsidizing Prison Medical Costs Through Medicaid
- PLN Challenges Postcard-only Policy at Tennessee Jail
- Federal Justice Grants Favor Prosecution, Law Enforcement Over Indigent Defense
- Texas Prison Population Drops but Savings Evaporate, by Matthew Clarke
- Federal Prisoners Paid During Government Shutdown, but Not Prison Guards, by Derek Gilna
- Minnesota Judge Condemns System that Jails Mentally Ill
- GEO Group Pulls out of Mississippi Prisons, by David Reutter
- Gun Found in Segregation Cell at Privately-operated Mississippi Prison
- New York City Jail Chaplain Fined for Accepting Bribe, Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges
- New Exonerations Registry Catalogs Over 2,400 Wrongful Convictions
- New Hampshire Supreme Court Revives Prisoner's Negligence Action
- Prisoners in Texas Jail Providing Less Slave Labor
- Book Review: Against Their Will: The Secret History of Medical Experimentation on Children in Cold War America, by Christopher Zoukis
- Second Circuit: Bankruptcy Automatic Stay is No Excuse for Non-payment of Restitution, by Derek Gilna
- Third Circuit Reverses More Stringent Conditions of Supervised Release, by Derek Gilna
- Best Criminal Defense Pleading Ever!, by Alex Friedmann
- Connecticut Supreme Court Reverses FOIA Disclosure of NCIC Printout
- California: No-Gang-Contact Probation Condition Struck Down
- Ninth Circuit: Adam Walsh Detention Doesn’t Toll Term of Supervised Release, by Derek Gilna
- Four West Virginia Officials, including Circuit Court Judge, Face Federal Charges, by Christopher Zoukis
- U.S. Department of Justice Reports Statistics on State Prosecutors, by Matthew Clarke
- Eighth Circuit Upholds North Dakota Transient’s Failure-to-Register Conviction
- California: Enhanced Presentence Conduct Credits Not Available to Defendants Who Committed Crimes Before Statute’s Effective Date
- California: State Not Liable for Failure to Provide Needed Treatment so Long as Medical Care is Summoned
- Philippines Prison Suspends Thriller Dancers
- ICE Directive May Limit Solitary Confinement of Immigrant Detainees, by Derek Gilna
- Denial of Contraceptive Pill to Prisoner States Cause of Action
- Montana Jail Fresh Air/Exercise Lawsuit Certified as Class Action, Then Settles
- Anonymous PREA Hotlines Not So Anonymous
- D.C. Circuit Clears Terrorism Suspect after 11-Year Ordeal, by Derek Gilna
- Audit Reveals Federal Prison Industries Faces Declining Revenue, Job Losses, by Derek Gilna
- Fifth Circuit: No Right to RDAP for Non-citizen Federal Prisoner
- Prison Sentence Imposed for Sole Purpose of Drug Treatment Vacated by Eighth Circuit, by Derek Gilna
- Court Baffled by BOP's Steel-toe Boot Requirement for Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
- 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:
- Federal Habeas Quick Reference Guide for State Prisoners, Sept. 1, 2026. Retroactivity, Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, Cause and Prejudice.
- Sixth Circuit Holds Kentucky Deficient-Counsel Belated-Appeal Procedure Tolls Federal Habeas One-Year Limitations Period, Sept. 1, 2026. Limitations, Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Failure to Preserve Challenge, Tolling of Statutes of Limitations and Laches.
- Formally Available, Rarely Granted: A State Prisoner’s Guide to Federal Habeas Relief, Sept. 1, 2026. Administrative Exhaustion, Habeas Corpus, Bureau of Prisons Orders, Administrative Law/Remedies, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Tolling of Statutes of Limitations and Laches, Federal Rules of Evidence, Statute of Limitations.
- Eleventh Circuit Holds § 2255 Motion Not “Second or Successive” After Intervening Amended Judgment Corrected Unlawful Sentences, Even as to Claims Concerning an Undisturbed Count, Aug. 1, 2026. Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Effect of Vacatur.
- California Supreme Court Limits Money Bail for Nonviolent Charges, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, Sentencing, Due Process, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Pretrial Detention and Detainees.
- Oregon Supreme Court: Jail Credit Statute Focuses Upon Legal Custody Not Physical Custody Location, July 1, 2026. Civil Procedure, Sentencing, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Criminal Justice, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- Louisiana’s Atavistic Approach to Criminal Sentencing and Parole Demonstrates Politicians’ Failure to Learn from Past Mistakes, July 1, 2026. Medical, Conditions of Confinement, Sentencing, Parole, Prisoners' Rights.
- SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Capital Conviction, July 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, AEDPA, Preservation of Appellate Rights/Issues, Jury Selection, Batson Claims.
- SCOTUS Holds Federal Habeas Court May Not Consider Post-Trial DNA Evidence That Was Never Presented to Jury When Assessing Whether False Informant Testimony Influenced Verdict, July 1, 2026. AEDPA, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
- SCOTUS Holds Mississippi Supreme Court Unreasonably Applied Batson and Unreasonably Found Waiver Where Trial Court Skipped Third Step of Inquiry, July 1, 2026. AEDPA, Preservation of Appellate Rights/Issues, Equal Protection Clause/Claims, Batson Claims, Bias/Discrimination.

