(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2019 1 

Syllabus 

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is 

being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. 

The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been 

prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. 

See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

BANISTER v. DAVIS, DIRECTOR, TEXAS 

DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, 

CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS DIVISION 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 

THE FIFTH CIRCUIT 

No. 18–6943. Argued December 4, 2019—Decided June 1, 2020 

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) allows a litigant to file a motion to

alter or amend a district court’s judgment within 28 days from the 

entry of judgment, with no possibility of an extension. The Rule enables 

a district court to “rectify its own mistakes in the period immediately

following” its decision, White v. New Hampshire Dept. of Employment 

Security, 455 U. S. 445, 450, but not to address new arguments or evidence that the moving party could have raised before the decision. A 

timely filed motion suspends the finality of the original judgment for 

purposes of appeal, and only the district court’s disposition of the motion restores finality and starts the 30-day appeal clock. If an appeal

follows, the ruling on the motion merges with the original determination into a single judgment. 

Title 28 U. S. C. §2244(b), the so-called gatekeeping provision of the 

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), governs federal habeas proceedings. Under AEDPA, a state prisoner is

entitled to one fair opportunity to seek federal habeas relief from his 

conviction. Section 2244(b), however, sets stringent limits on second 

or successive habeas applications. Among those restrictions, a prisoner may not reassert any claims “presented in a prior application,” 

§2244(b)(1), and may bring a new claim only in limited situations. Because habeas proceedings are civil in nature, the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure generally apply, but statutory habeas restrictions, including §2244(b), trump any “inconsistent” Rule. §2254 Rule 12. 

Petitioner Gregory Banister was convicted by a Texas court of aggravated assault and sentenced to 30 years in prison. After exhausting

his state remedies, he filed for federal habeas relief, which the District 
 

 

 

2 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Syllabus 

Court denied. Banister timely filed a Rule 59(e) motion, which the 

District Court also denied. He then filed a notice of appeal in accordance with the timeline for appealing a judgment after the denial of a 

Rule 59(e) motion. But the Fifth Circuit construed Banister’s Rule 

59(e) motion as a successive habeas petition and dismissed his appeal

as untimely. 

Held: Because a Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend a habeas court’s 

judgment is not a second or successive habeas petition under 28 

U. S. C. §2244(b), Banister’s appeal was timely. Pp. 5–16.

(a) The phrase “second or successive application” is a term of art and 

does not “simply ‘refe[r]’ ” to all habeas filings made “ ‘second or successively in time,’ ” following an initial application. Magwood v. Patterson, 561 U. S. 320, 332. In addressing what qualifies as second or successive, this Court has looked to historical habeas doctrine and 

practice and AEDPA’s purposes. Here, both point toward permitting

Rule 59(e) motions in habeas proceedings.

Prior to AEDPA, the Court held in Browder v. Director, Dept. of Corrections of Ill., 434 U. S. 257, that Rule 59(e) applied in habeas proceedings. The Rule, the Court recounted, derived from courts’ commonlaw power “to alter or amend [their] own judgments during[ ] the 

term of court in which [they were] rendered,” prior to any appeal, including “in habeas corpus cases.” Id., at 270. Although the drafters of 

the Federal Rules eventually replaced the “term of court” power with

Rule 59(e), the Court concluded that this did nothing to narrow the set 

of judgments amenable to alteration. The record of judicial decisions 

accords with that view. Pre-AEDPA, habeas courts were to dismiss 

repetitive applications except in “rare case[s].” Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 

477 U. S. 436, 451. Yet in the half century from Rule 59(e)’s adoption 

through Browder to AEDPA’s enactment, there exists only one dismissal of a Rule 59(e) motion as impermissibly successive. In all other 

cases, the district courts resolved Rule 59(e) motions on the merits. 

Congress passed AEDPA against this backdrop, and gave no indication that it meant to change what qualifies as a successive application.

Nor do AEDPA’s purposes of reducing delay, conserving judicial resources, and promoting finality suggest any different result. Rule 

59(e) offers a narrow, 28-day window to ask for relief; limits requests

for reconsideration to matters properly raised in the challenged judgment; and consolidates proceedings by producing a single final judgment for appeal. Indeed, the Rule may make habeas proceedings more

efficient by enabling a district court to reverse a mistaken judgment or 

to clarify its reasoning so as to make an appeal unnecessary. Pp. 5– 

12.

 (b) Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U. S. 524, which held that a Rule 60(b) 
 

 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 3 

Syllabus 

motion counts as a second or successive habeas application if it “attacks the federal court’s previous resolution of a claim on the merits,” 

id., at 532, does not alter that conclusion. Rule 60(b) differs from Rule 

59(e) in just about every way that matters here. Whereas Rule 59(e) 

derives from a common-law court’s plenary power to revise its judgment before anyone could appeal, Rule 60(b) codifies various writs 

used to collaterally attack a court’s already completed judgment. That 

distinction was not lost on pre-AEDPA habeas courts, which routinely 

dismissed Rule 60(b) motions for raising repetitive claims. Next, the 

Rules’ modern-day operations also diverge, with only Rule 60(b) undermining AEDPA’s scheme to prevent delay and protect finality. 

That is because a Rule 60(b) motion, which can arise long after the 

denial of a prisoner’s initial petition, generally goes beyond pointing 

out alleged errors in the just-issued decision. Still more, a Rule 60(b)

motion “does not affect the [original] judgment’s finality or suspend its

operation” and is appealable as “a separate final order.” Stone v. INS, 

514 U. S. 386, 401. Left unchecked, a Rule 60(b) motion threatens serial habeas litigation, while a Rule 59(e) motion is a one-time effort to 

point out alleged errors in a just-issued decision before taking a single 

appeal. Pp. 12–16. 

Reversed and remanded. 

KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., 

and GINSBURG, BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, GORSUCH, and KAVANAUGH, JJ., 

joined. ALITO, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which THOMAS, J., joined. 
 

 

 

_________________ 

_________________ 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 

preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to 

notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 

corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

No. 18–6943 

GREGORY DEAN BANISTER, PETITIONER v. LORIE 

DAVIS, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE, CORRECTIONAL 

INSTITUTIONS DIVISION 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT 

[June 1, 2020]

 JUSTICE KAGAN delivered the opinion of the Court. 

A state prisoner is entitled to one fair opportunity to seek 

federal habeas relief from his conviction. But he may not

usually make a “second or successive habeas corpus application.” 28 U. S. C. §2244(b). The question here is whether 

a motion brought under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 

59(e) to alter or amend a habeas court’s judgment qualifies

as such a successive petition. We hold it does not. A Rule 

59(e) motion is instead part and parcel of the first habeas

proceeding. 

I 

This case is about two procedural rules. First, Rule 59(e)

applies in federal civil litigation generally. (Habeas proceedings, for those new to the area, are civil in nature. See 

Fisher v. Baker, 203 U. S. 174, 181 (1906).) The Rule enables a party to request that a district court reconsider a justissued judgment. Second, the so-called gatekeeping provision of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act 

of 1996 (AEDPA), codified at 28 U. S. C. §2244(b), governs 
 

 

2 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Opinion of the Court 

federal habeas proceedings. It sets stringent limits on second or successive habeas applications. We say a few words

about each before describing how the courts below applied

them here. 

A 

Rule 59(e) allows a litigant to file a “motion to alter or 

amend a judgment.”1 The time for doing so is short—28 

days from entry of the judgment, with no possibility of an

extension. See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 6(b)(2) (prohibiting extensions to Rule 59(e)’s deadline). The Rule gives a district

court the chance “to rectify its own mistakes in the period

immediately following” its decision. White v. New Hampshire Dept. of Employment Security, 455 U. S. 445, 450 

(1982). In keeping with that corrective function, “federal

courts generally have [used] Rule 59(e) only” to “reconsider[] matters properly encompassed in a decision on the 

merits.” Id., at 451. In particular, courts will not address

new arguments or evidence that the moving party could 

have raised before the decision issued. See 11 C. Wright, A. 

Miller, & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure §2810.1,

pp. 163–164 (3d ed. 2012) (Wright & Miller); accord, Exxon 

Shipping Co. v. Baker, 554 U. S. 471, 485–486, n. 5 (2008) 

(quoting prior edition).2 The motion is therefore tightly tied 

to the underlying judgment.

The filing of a Rule 59(e) motion within the 28-day period

“suspends the finality of the original judgment” for purposes of an appeal. FCC v. League of Women Voters of Cal., 

468 U. S. 364, 373, n. 10 (1984) (internal quotation marks 

—————— 1The complete text of the Rule reads: “A motion to alter or amend a 

judgment must be filed no later than 28 days after the entry of the judgment.” 2By contrast, courts may consider new arguments based on an “intervening change in controlling law” and “newly discovered or previously

unavailable evidence.” 11 Wright & Miller §2810.1, at 161–162 (3d ed. 

2012). But it is rare for such arguments or evidence to emerge within 

Rule 59(e)’s strict 28-day timeframe. 
 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 3 

Opinion of the Court 

and alterations omitted). Without such a motion, a litigant 

must take an appeal no later than 30 days from the district

court’s entry of judgment. See Fed. Rule App. Proc. (FRAP)

4(a)(1)(A). But if he timely submits a Rule 59(e) motion,

there is no longer a final judgment to appeal from. See Osterneck v. Ernst & Whinney, 489 U. S. 169, 174 (1989). Only

the disposition of that motion “restores th[e] finality” of the 

original judgment, thus starting the 30-day appeal clock. 

League of Women Voters, 468 U. S., at 373, n. 10 (internal

quotation marks omitted); see FRAP 4(a)(4)(A)(iv) (A

party’s “time to file an appeal runs” from “the entry of the 

order disposing of the [Rule 59(e)] motion”). And if an appeal follows, the ruling on the Rule 59(e) motion merges 

with the prior determination, so that the reviewing court

takes up only one judgment. See 11 Wright & Miller §2818, 

at 246; Foman v. Davis, 371 U. S. 178, 181 (1962). The 

court thus addresses any attack on the Rule 59(e) ruling as 

part of its review of the underlying decision.

Now turn to §2244(b)’s restrictions on second or successive habeas petitions. Under AEDPA, a state prisoner always gets one chance to bring a federal habeas challenge to 

his conviction. See Magwood v. Patterson, 561 U. S. 320, 

333–334 (2010). But after that, the road gets rockier. To 

file a second or successive application in a district court, a 

prisoner must first obtain leave from the court of appeals 

based on a “prima facie showing” that his petition satisfies

the statute’s gatekeeping requirements. 28 U. S. C. 

§2244(b)(3)(C). Under those provisions, which bind the district court even when leave is given, a prisoner may not reassert any claims “presented in a prior application.”

§2244(b)(1). And he may bring a new claim only if it falls 

within one of two narrow categories—roughly speaking, if 

it relies on a new and retroactive rule of constitutional law 

or if it alleges previously undiscoverable facts that would 

establish his innocence. See §2244(b)(2). Still more: Those 

restrictions, like all statutes and rules pertaining to habeas, 
 

4 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Opinion of the Court 

trump any “inconsistent” Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 

otherwise applicable to habeas proceedings. 28 U. S. C. 

§2254 Rule 12. 

B 

This case began when, nearly two decades ago, petitioner

Gregory Banister struck and killed a bicyclist while driving 

a car. Texas charged him with the crime of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A jury found him guilty, and 

he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. State courts upheld 

the conviction on direct appeal and in collateral proceedings. Banister then turned to federal district court for habeas relief. Although raising many claims, his petition

mainly argued that his trial and appellate counsel provided 

him with constitutionally ineffective assistance. The District Court disagreed and entered judgment denying the application.

At that point, Banister timely filed a Rule 59(e) motion 

asking the District Court to alter its judgment. Consistent 

with the Rule’s corrective purpose, Banister urged the court 

to fix what he saw as “manifest errors of law and fact.” App. 

219. Five days later and without requiring a response from

the State, the court issued a one-paragraph order explaining that it had reviewed all relevant materials and stood by

its decision. See id., at 254. In accordance with the timeline 

for appealing a judgment after the denial of a Rule 59(e) 

motion, see supra, at 3, Banister then filed a notice of appeal (along with a request for a certificate of appealability) 

to challenge the District Court’s rejection of his habeas application.

Yet the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed 

the appeal as untimely. That ruling rested on the view that 

Banister’s Rule 59(e) motion, although captioned as such, 

was not really a Rule 59(e) motion at all. Because it “attack[ed] the federal court’s previous resolution of [his] claim 

on the merits,” the Fifth Circuit held that the motion must 
 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 5 

Opinion of the Court 

be “construed as a successive habeas petition.” App. 305

(internal quotation marks omitted). In any future case, 

that holding would prohibit a habeas court from considering claims made in a self-styled Rule 59(e) motion except in 

rare circumstances—that is, when a court of appeals gave

permission and the claim fell within one of §2244(b)’s two

slender categories. See supra, at 3. In Banister’s own case, 

that bar was of no moment because the District Court had 

already addressed his motion’s merits. But viewing a Rule

59(e) motion as a successive habeas petition also had another consequence, and this one would affect him. Unlike a 

Rule 59(e) motion, the Court of Appeals noted, a successive 

habeas application does not postpone the time to file an appeal. That meant the clock started ticking when the District Court denied Banister’s habeas application (rather

than his subsequent motion)—and so Banister’s appeal was

several weeks late. 

We granted certiorari to resolve a Circuit split about

whether a Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend a habeas

court’s judgment counts as a second or successive habeas

application. 588 U. S. ___ (2019). We hold it does not, and 

reverse. 

II 

This case requires us to choose between two rules—more 

specifically, to decide whether AEDPA’s §2244(b) displaces 

Rule 59(e) in federal habeas litigation. The Federal Rules 

of Civil Procedure generally govern habeas proceedings.

See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 81(a)(4). They give way, however,

if and to the extent “inconsistent with any statutory provisions or [habeas-specific] rules.” 28 U. S. C. §2254 Rule 12; 

see supra, at 3–4. Here, the Fifth Circuit concluded and 

Texas now contends that AEDPA’s limitation of repetitive 

habeas applications conflicts with Rule 59(e)’s ordinary operation. That argument in turn hinges on viewing a Rule 
 

 

 

6 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Opinion of the Court 

59(e) motion in a habeas case as a “second or successive application.” §2244(b); see Brief for Respondent 10. If such a 

motion constitutes a second or successive petition, then all 

of §2244(b)’s restrictions kick in—limiting the filings Rule

59(e) would allow. But if a Rule 59(e) motion is not so understood—if it is instead part of resolving a prisoner’s first 

habeas application—then §2244(b)’s requirements never 

come into the picture.

The phrase “second or successive application,” on which 

all this rides, is a “term of art,” which “is not self-defining.” 

Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U. S. 473, 486 (2000); Panetti v. 

Quarterman, 551 U. S. 930, 943 (2007). We have often 

made clear that it does not “simply ‘refer’ ” to all habeas filings made “‘second or successively in time,’” following an

initial application. Magwood, 561 U. S., at 332 (quoting 

Panetti, 551 U. S., at 944 (alteration omitted)). For example, the courts of appeals agree (as do both parties) that an

amended petition, filed after the initial one but before judgment, is not second or successive. See 2 R. Hertz & J. Liebman, Federal Habeas Corpus Practice and Procedure §28.1,

pp. 1656–1657, n. 4 (7th ed. 2017) (collecting cases); Brief

for Petitioner 20–21; Brief for Respondent 16. So too, appeals from the habeas court’s judgment (or still later petitions to this Court) are not second or successive; rather, 

they are further iterations of the first habeas application.3 

Chronology here is by no means all.

In addressing what qualifies as second or successive, this 

Court has looked for guidance in two main places. First, we 

have explored historical habeas doctrine and practice. The 

—————— 3For additional examples, see Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U. S. 473, 487 

(2000) (allowing a prisoner to file a second-in-time, post-judgment application to assert claims earlier dismissed for failure to exhaust) and Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal, 523 U. S. 637, 643–644 (1998) (permitting a 

prisoner to file a second-in-time, post-judgment application to argue that

he was incompetent to be executed). 
 

 

 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 7 

Opinion of the Court 

phrase “second or successive application,” we have explained, is “given substance in our prior habeas corpus

cases,” including those “predating [AEDPA’s] enactment.” 

Slack, 529 U. S., at 486; Panetti, 551 U. S., at 944; see id., 

at 943 (stating that the phrase “takes its full meaning from 

our case law”). In particular, we have asked whether a type

of later-in-time filing would have “constituted an abuse of 

the writ, as that concept is explained in our [pre-AEDPA] 

cases.” Id., at 947. If so, it is successive; if not, likely not. 

Second, we have considered AEDPA’s own purposes. The 

point of §2244(b)’s restrictions, we have stated, is to “conserve judicial resources, reduc[e] piecemeal litigation,” and 

“lend[] finality to state court judgments within a reasonable 

time.” Id., at 945–946 (internal quotation marks omitted).

With those goals in mind, we have considered “the implications for habeas practice” of allowing a type of filing, to assess whether Congress would have viewed it as successive. 

Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal, 523 U. S. 637, 644 (1998).

Here, both historical precedents and statutory aims point

in the same direction—toward permitting Rule 59(e) motions in habeas proceedings. And nothing cuts the opposite 

way. 

A 

This Court has already held that history supports a habeas court’s consideration of a Rule 59(e) motion. In 

Browder v. Director, Dept. of Corrections of Ill., 434 U. S. 

257 (1978), we addressed prior to AEDPA “the applicability 

of Federal Rule [59(e)] in habeas corpus proceedings.” Id., 

at 258. In deciding that the Rule applied in habeas—that 

“a prompt motion for reconsideration” was “thoroughly consistent” with habeas law and “well suited to the special

problems and character of [habeas] proceedings”—we 

mainly looked to historical practice. Id., at 271 (internal 

quotation marks omitted). Rule 59(e), we recounted, derived from a court’s common-law power “to alter or amend 
 

 

 

8 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Opinion of the Court 

its own judgments during[] the term of court in which [they

were] rendered,” prior to any appeal. Id., at 270; see Zimmern v. United States, 298 U. S. 167, 169–170 (1936) (“The

judge had plenary power while the term was in existence to

modify his judgment [or] revoke it altogether”).4 Courts exercised that authority, we explained, “in habeas corpus

cases” just as “in other civil proceedings.” Browder, 434 

U. S., at 270. In 1946, the drafters of the Federal Rules replaced the “term of court” power with Rule 59(e), thus prescribing a set number of days (then 10, now 28) in which a 

party could move to amend a judgment. See id., at 271. But 

in our view, that change did nothing to narrow the set of 

judgments amenable to alteration. See id., at 270–271. After Rule 59(e), just as before, a district court could “reconsider the grant or denial of habeas corpus relief ” in the

same way it could review any other decision. Id., at 270; 

see id., at 271. A timely Rule 59(e) motion, we held, “suspend[ed] the finality” of any judgment, including one in habeas—thus enabling a district court to address the matter

again. Id., at 267 (internal quotation marks omitted).5 

—————— 4A term of court in those days was simply a period in which a court 

was open for business. A statute or rule set the date of its commencement, and the court itself determined the date to adjourn. See United 

States v. Pitman, 147 U. S. 669, 670–671 (1893). 5 The dissent’s attempt to dismiss Browder is impossible to square with 

the opinion. Mostly, the dissent claims that Browder is just a case about 

“time limits.” Post, at 10 (opinion of ALITO, J.). But Browder is about 

time limits only in the sense that this case is about time limits: There, 

as here, the timeliness of a motion depended on the broader question

whether Rule 59(e) applied in habeas proceedings. See 434 U. S., at 258 

(“In order to resolve th[e] question” whether the “appeal was untimely,”

“we must consider the applicability of Federal Rule[] 59 in habeas corpus

proceedings”). The dissent also intimates that Browder was different because there the prison warden rather than the prisoner moved for reconsideration of the habeas ruling. See post, at 10, and n. 2. But the Court’s 

decision explicitly addressed “motion[s ] to reconsider the grant or denial 

of habeas corpus relief.” 434 U. S., at 270 (emphasis added). In other 
 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 9 

Opinion of the Court 

The record of judicial decisions accords with Browder’s 

view of the use of Rule 59(e) in habeas practice. Before 

AEDPA, “abuse-of-the-writ principles limit[ed] a [habeas

applicant’s] ability to file repetitive petitions.” McCleskey 

v. Zant, 499 U. S. 467, 483 (1991). That doctrine was more 

forgiving than AEDPA’s gatekeeping provision—for example, enabling courts to hear a second or successive petition

if the “ends of justice” warranted doing so. Id., at 485. But 

the rule against repetitive litigation still had plenty of bite.

It demanded the dismissal of successive applications except 

in “rare case[s].” Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 477 U. S. 436, 451 

(1986) (plurality opinion). So if courts had viewed Rule 

59(e) motions as successive, there should be lots of decisions

dismissing them on that basis. But nothing of the kind exists. In the half century from Rule 59(e)’s adoption (1946) 

through Browder (1978) to AEDPA’s enactment (1996), we

(and the parties) have found only one such dismissal. See 

Bannister v. Armontrout, 4 F. 3d 1434, 1445 (CA8 1993). In 

every other case, courts resolved Rule 59(e) motions on the 

merits—and without any comment about repetitive litigation. Mostly, courts denied the motions and adhered to 

their original judgments. See, e.g., Gajewski v. Stevens, 346 

F. 2d 1000, 1001 (CA8 1965) (per curiam). Occasionally,

courts decided they had erred in those decisions. See, e.g., 

York v. Tate, 858 F. 2d 322, 325 (CA6 1988) (per curiam).

The win-loss rate is for this point irrelevant. What matters 

is that they all (but one) treated Rule 59(e) motions not as

successive, but as attendant on the initial habeas application. 

Congress passed AEDPA against this legal backdrop, and 

did nothing to change it. AEDPA of course made the limits 

on entertaining second or successive habeas applications 

—————— 

words, the identity of the movant—whether warden or prisoner—was irrelevant. 
 

 

10 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

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more stringent than before. See supra, at 3. But the statute did not redefine what qualifies as a successive petition, 

much less place Rule 59(e) motions in that category. Cf. 

Magwood, 561 U. S., at 336–337 (distinguishing between 

two questions: “§2244(b)’s threshold inquiry into whether 

an application is ‘second or successive’ and its subsequent 

inquiry into whether [to dismiss] a successive application”).

When Congress “intends to effect a change” in existing

law—in particular, a holding of this Court—it usually provides a clear statement of that objective. TC Heartland 

LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, 581 U. S. ___, ___ 

(2017) (slip op., at 8). AEDPA offers no such indication that 

Congress meant to change the historical practice Browder 

endorsed of applying Rule 59(e) in habeas proceedings. 

Nor do AEDPA’s purposes demand a change in that tradition. As explained earlier, AEDPA aimed to prevent serial challenges to a judgment of conviction, in the interest 

of reducing delay, conserving judicial resources, and promoting finality. See supra, at 7. Nothing in Rule 59(e)—a 

rule Browder described as itself “based on an interest in 

speedy disposition and finality,” 434 U. S., at 271 (internal 

quotation marks omitted)—conflicts with those goals. Recall everything said above about the Rule’s operation. See 

supra, at 2–3. To begin with, Rule 59(e) gives a prisoner 

only a narrow window to ask for relief—28 days, with no

extensions. Next, a prisoner may invoke the rule only to

request “reconsideration of matters properly encompassed” 

in the challenged judgment. White, 455 U. S., at 451. And 

“reconsideration” means just that: Courts will not entertain 

arguments that could have been but were not raised before 

the just-issued decision. A Rule 59(e) motion is therefore 

backward-looking; and because that is so, it maintains a 

prisoner’s incentives to consolidate all of his claims in his

initial application. Yet more, the Rule consolidates appellate proceedings. A Rule 59(e) motion briefly suspends finality to enable a district court to fix any mistakes and 
 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 11 

Opinion of the Court 

thereby perfect its judgment before a possible appeal. The 

motion’s disposition then merges into the final judgment

that the prisoner may take to the next level. In that way,

the Rule avoids “piecemeal appellate review.” Osterneck, 

489 U. S., at 177. Its operation, rather than allowing repeated attacks on a decision, helps produce a single final 

judgment for appeal. 

Indeed, the availability of Rule 59(e) may make habeas 

proceedings more efficient. Most obviously, the Rule enables a district court to reverse a mistaken judgment, and so

make an appeal altogether unnecessary. See United States 

v. Ibarra, 502 U. S. 1, 5 (1991) (per curiam) (noting that giving district courts a short time to correct their own errors 

“prevents unnecessary burdens being placed on the courts 

of appeals”). Of course, Rule 59(e) motions seldom change

judicial outcomes. But even when they do not, they give

habeas courts the chance to clarify their reasoning or address arguments (often made in less-than-limpid pro se petitions) passed over or misunderstood before. See Brief for 

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae 12–20 (describing examples). That opportunity,

too, promotes an economic and effective appellate process,

as the reviewing court gets “the benefit of the district 

court’s plenary findings.” Osterneck, 489 U. S., at 177. And 

when a district court sees no need to change a decision, the

costs of permitting a Rule 59(e) motion are typically slight. 

A judge familiar with a habeas applicant’s claims can usually make quick work of a meritless motion. This case may

well provide an example: The District Court declined to 

make the State respond to Banister’s motion and decided it

within five days. Nothing in such a process conflicts with

AEDPA’s goal of streamlining habeas cases.

The upshot, after AEDPA as before, is that Rule 59(e) motions are not second or successive petitions, but instead a 

part of a prisoner’s first habeas proceeding. In timing and 

substance, a Rule 59(e) motion hews closely to the initial 
 

12 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Opinion of the Court 

application; and the habeas court’s disposition of the former 

fuses with its decision on the latter. Such a motion does not 

enable a prisoner to abuse the habeas process by stringing 

out his claims over the years. It instead gives the court a 

brief chance to fix mistakes before its (single) judgment on

a (single) habeas application becomes final and thereby

triggers the time for appeal. No surprise, then, that habeas 

courts historically entertained Rule 59(e) motions, rather 

than dismiss them as successive. Or that Congress said not 

a word about changing that familiar practice even when enacting other habeas restrictions. 

B 

Texas (along with the dissent) resists this conclusion on 

one main ground: this Court’s prior decision in Gonzalez v. 

Crosby, 545 U. S. 524 (2005). The question there was 

whether a Rule 60(b) motion for “relie[f] from a final judgment” denying habeas relief counts as a second or successive habeas application. Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 60(b).6 We 

said that it does, so long as the motion “attacks the federal 

court’s previous resolution of a claim on the merits.” 545 

U. S., at 532 (emphasis deleted).7 Texas thinks the “Gonzalez principle applies with equal force to Rule 59(e) motions.” 

—————— 6Under Rule 60(b), a court may relieve a party in civil litigation from 

a final judgment if the party can show (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) certain newly discovered evidence; (3)

fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct by an opposing party; (4) voidness of the judgment; (5) certain events that would cast doubt on the 

validity or equity of continuing to apply the judgment; or (6) “any other 

reason that justifies relief.” Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 60(b)(1)–(6). 7By contrast, Gonzalez held, a Rule 60(b) motion that attacks “some

defect in the integrity of the federal habeas proceedings”—like the mistaken application of a statute of limitations—does not count as a habeas

petition at all, and so can proceed. 545 U. S., at 532. Texas concedes 

that if Gonzalez controls Rule 59(e) motions, that decision’s distinction 

between merits-based motions and integrity-based motions would have

to apply. See Brief for Respondent 37. The need for a habeas court to 

make that not-always-easy threshold determination further undermines 
Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 13 

Opinion of the Court 

Brief for Respondent 8. After all, the State argues, both 

Rule 59(e) and Rule 60(b) provide “vehicles for asserting habeas claims” after a district court has entered judgment

denying relief. Id., at 2. And if Gonzalez does apply, Texas

concludes, Banister must lose because (as everyone agrees) 

his Rule 59(e) motion pressed only merits-based claims. 

But Rule 60(b) differs from Rule 59(e) in just about every 

way that matters to the inquiry here. (Contra the dissent’s 

refrain, see post, at 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 14, the variance goes far 

beyond their “labels.”) Begin, again, with history. Recall 

that Rule 59(e) derives from a common-law court’s plenary 

power to revise its judgment during a single term of court,

before anyone could appeal. See supra, at 7–8. By contrast,

Rule 60(b) codifies various writs used to seek relief from a 

judgment at any time after the term’s expiration—even after an appeal had (long since) concluded. Those mechanisms did not (as the term rule did) aid the trial court to get

its decision right in the first instance; rather, they served

to collaterally attack its already completed judgment. See 

Advisory Committee’s 1946 Notes on Amendments to Fed.

Rule Civ. Proc. 60; Mann, Note, History and Interpretation 

of Federal Rule 60(b), 25 Temp. L. Q. 77, 78 (1951). And 

that distinction was not lost on pre-AEDPA habeas courts 

applying the two rules. As discussed earlier, it is practically

impossible to find a case dismissing a Rule 59(e) motion for 

raising repetitive claims. See supra, at 9. But decisions 

abound dismissing Rule 60(b) motions for that reason. See, 

e.g., Williamson v. Rison, 1993 WL 262632 (CA9, July 9,

1993); see also Brewer v. Ward, 1996 WL 194830, *1 (CA10,

Apr. 22, 1996) (collecting cases from multiple Circuits). 

That is because those courts recognized Rule 60(b)—as con-

—————— 

the notion—already on shaky ground, see supra, at 10–11—that Texas’s 

position would lead to any efficiency gains. 
 

 

 

 

14 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Opinion of the Court 

trasted to Rule 59(e)—as threatening an already final judgment with successive litigation.8 

The modern-day operation of the two Rules also diverge,

with only Rule 60(b) undermining AEDPA’s scheme to prevent delay and protect finality. Unlike Rule 59(e) motions 

with their fixed 28-day window, Rule 60(b) motions can 

arise long after the denial of a prisoner’s initial petition—

depending on the reason given for relief, within either a 

year or a more open-ended “reasonable time.” Fed. Rule 

Civ. Proc. 60(c)(1). In Gonzalez itself, the prisoner made his

motion nearly three years after the habeas court’s denial of

relief, and more than one year after his appeal ended. See 

545 U. S., at 527. Given that extended timespan, Rule 60(b) 

inevitably elicits motions that go beyond Rule 59(e)’s mission of pointing out the alleged errors in the habeas court’s

decision. See, e.g., Lopez v. Douglas, 141 F. 3d 974, 975 

(CA10 1998) (per curiam) (seeking relief in light of a Supreme Court decision issued a decade after judgment); Tyler v. Anderson, 749 F. 3d 499, 504–505 (CA6 2014) (seeking 

to raise claims that former counsel had neglected in a yearsold habeas application). Still more, the appeal of a Rule

60(b) denial is independent of the appeal of the original petition. Recall that a Rule 59(e) motion suspends the finality 

—————— 8 The dissent’s alternative explanation for this disparity does not pass 

muster. According to the dissent, habeas courts “might have been more

inclined” to rule on the merits of Rule 59(e) motions because doing so was 

easier: after all, they (but not Rule 60(b) motions) always challenge a 

just-issued decision. Post, at 12. But another course would have been 

easier still: throwing out the motion for raising repetitive claims. And 

even more to the point, that course would usually have been required if 

the dissent were right that Rule 59(e) motions counted as successive.

Although pre-AEDPA courts had some discretion around the edges, the 

consideration of successive petitions was supposed to be “rare.” 

Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 477 U. S. 436, 451 (1986) (plurality opinion); see 

supra, at 9. It is a “tall order,” post, at 12, then, to think that a half 

century’s worth of habeas courts would have resolved Rule 59(e) motions 

on the merits if they thought of those motions as successive. The only 

plausible account of their actions is that they did not. 
Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 15 

Opinion of the Court 

of the habeas judgment, and a decision on the former 

merges into the latter for appellate review. See supra, at 

2–3, 10-11. By contrast, a Rule 60(b) motion “does not affect 

the [original] judgment’s finality or suspend its operation.”

Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 60(c)(2). And an appeal from the denial 

of Rule 60(b) relief “does not bring up the underlying judgment for review.” Browder, 434 U. S., at 263, n. 7. Instead, 

that denial is appealed as “a separate final order.” Stone v. 

INS, 514 U. S. 386, 401 (1995).9 

In short, a Rule 60(b) motion differs from a Rule 59(e) 

motion in its remove from the initial habeas proceeding. A 

Rule 60(b) motion—often distant in time and scope and always giving rise to a separate appeal—attacks an already 

completed judgment. Its availability threatens serial habeas litigation; indeed, without rules suppressing abuse, a

prisoner could bring such a motion endlessly. By contrast,

a Rule 59(e) motion is a one-time effort to bring alleged errors in a just-issued decision to a habeas court’s attention,

before taking a single appeal. It is a limited continuation 

of the original proceeding—indeed, a part of producing the 

final judgment granting or denying habeas relief. For those 

reasons, Gonzalez does not govern here. A Rule 59(e) motion, unlike a Rule 60(b) motion, does not count as a second 

or successive habeas application. 

—————— 9Texas objects that if a Rule 60(b) motion is filed within 28 days, it too

suspends the finality of the underlying judgment so that the denial of the 

motion merges with that judgment on appeal. See Brief for Respondent 

25, 28. But that is only because courts of appeals have long treated Rule 

60(b) motions filed within 28 days as . . . Rule 59(e) motions. See, e.g., 

Skagerberg v. Oklahoma, 797 F. 2d 881, 882–883 (CA10 1986) (per curiam) (“A post-judgment motion made within [28] days of the entry of

judgment that questions the correctness of a judgment,” however denominated, “is properly construed as a motion to alter or amend judgment

under [Rule] 59(e)”); see also Fed. Rule App. Proc. 4(a)(4)(A)(vi) (codifying that approach by setting the same appeals clock for self-styled Rule

60(b) motions filed within 28 days as for Rule 59(e) motions). 
 

 

16 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

Opinion of the Court 

III 

Our holding means that the Court of Appeals should not

have dismissed Banister’s appeal as untimely. Banister 

properly brought a Rule 59(e) motion in the District Court.

As noted earlier, the 30-day appeals clock runs from the disposition of such a motion, rather than from the initial entry 

of judgment. See supra, at 3. And Banister filed his notice 

of appeal within that time. The Fifth Circuit reached a contrary conclusion because it thought that Banister’s motion 

was really a second or successive habeas application, and so

did not reset the appeals clock. For all the reasons we have 

given, that understanding of a Rule 59(e) motion is wrong. 

We therefore reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals 

and remand the case for further proceedings consistent

with this opinion. 

It is so ordered. 
_________________ 

_________________ 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 1 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

No. 18–6943 

GREGORY DEAN BANISTER, PETITIONER v. LORIE 

DAVIS, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE, CORRECTIONAL 

INSTITUTIONS DIVISION 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT 

[June 1, 2020]

 JUSTICE ALITO, with whom JUSTICE THOMAS joins,

dissenting. 

Gregory Banister, a state prisoner, filed a federal habeas 

petition arguing that his conviction was invalid for 53 reasons. His arguments spanned almost 300 pages and featured an imagined retelling of the jury deliberations in the 

form of stage dialogue. After the District Court determined 

that all his claims lacked merit, he filed a motion rearguing

many of them.

If Banister had labeled this motion what it was in substance—another habeas petition—it would have been summarily dismissed under 28 U. S. C. §2244(b)(1). If he had 

labeled it a motion for relief from judgment under Federal 

Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), it would also have been subject to dismissal under our decision in Gonzalez v. Crosby, 

545 U. S. 524 (2005). Instead, he gave it a different label, 

styling it as a motion to alter the judgment under Rule 

59(e), and the Court now holds this label makes all the 

difference. 

The question in this case is whether a state prisoner can

evade the federal habeas statute’s restrictions on second or 

successive habeas petitions by affixing a Rule 59(e) label.

The answer follows from our decision in Gonzalez, and the 
 

 

 

2 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

answer is no. If a Rule 59(e) motion asserts a habeas claim, 

the motion functions as a second or successive habeas petition and should be treated as such. 

I 

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of

1996 (AEDPA) “streamlin[es] federal habeas corpus proceedings.” Rhines v. Weber, 544 U. S. 269, 277 (2005). A 

state prisoner is generally limited to a single federal habeas

petition, which usually must be filed within one year after

the end of direct review; the district court must give this

petition “priority”; if the prisoner is dissatisfied with the

district court’s decision and wants to appeal, he must seek 

permission from the appropriate court of appeals and must 

set out the errors he thinks the district court made; and the 

appeal can go forward only if a specified standard is met. 

§§2244(d), 2253(c), 2254(a), 2266(a). As we have frequently

said, this design was crafted to promote comity, finality,

federalism, and judicial efficiency. See, e.g., Panetti v. 

Quarterman, 551 U. S. 930, 945 (2007). 

Habeas petitions occupy an outsized place on federal 

dockets. See infra, at 13. Their efficient resolution not only

preserves federal judicial capacity but removes the cloud of 

federal review from state-court judgments. The federal habeas provisions create a procedural regime that differs 

sharply from the regime that generally applies in civil 

cases, and the habeas statute displaces any Federal Rule of 

Civil Procedure that is “inconsistent with” its provisions.

28 U. S. C. §2254 Rule 12 (Habeas Rule 12). 

Integral to AEDPA’s design are its restrictions on “second 

or successive” habeas petitions, which, prior to AEDPA,

sometimes led to very lengthy delays. See, e.g., Kuhlmann 

v. Wilson, 477 U. S. 436, 453, and n. 15 (1986) (plurality 

opinion). A provision added by AEDPA, 28 U. S. C. 

§2244(b), is designed to prevent this. Under §2244(b)(1), a

second or successive petition may not duplicate the initial 
Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 3 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

petition. Thus, any claim “that was presented in a prior 

application shall be dismissed.” §2244(b)(1). In addition, 

second or successive petitions usually may not raise new 

claims either. Any claim “that was not presented in a prior

application shall be dismissed unless” it meets stringent 

standards contained in §2244(b)(2). Specifically, to avoid 

dismissal, a new claim must rely on (1) “a new rule of constitutional law” that this Court has made applicable in habeas proceedings or (2) a fact that “could not have been discovered previously through the exercise of due diligence” 

and that now makes the petitioner’s innocence “clear and 

convincing.” §§2244(b)(2)(A)–(B).

A prisoner wishing to file a second or successive petition

must apply to a court of appeals for permission to do so, and 

the court of appeals cannot authorize the filing unless the 

petition makes a prima facie showing that it meets 

§2244(b)(2)’s standards. §2244(b)(3). If a court of appeals

allows the second or successive petition to be filed, the district court must nevertheless review its claims and dismiss 

any that turns out not to meet §2244(b)(2)’s standards. 

§2244(b)(4). 

II

 In Gonzalez, we considered how §2244(b) applies to a filing that is in essence a second or successive habeas petition 

but bears a different label. The filing there was a motion

under Rule 60(b), which allows a court to relieve a party of 

an earlier judgment. Every Member of the Gonzalez Court, 

including those in dissent, recognized that whether a Rule

60(b) motion should be treated as a habeas petition depends 

on the nature of the relief the motion seeks, not the label 

slapped onto it. 545 U. S., at 532 (opinion of the Court); id., 

at 538 (BREYER, J., concurring); id., at 539 (Stevens, J., dissenting). And in considering whether a Rule 60(b) motion 

asserts the type of relief that requires it to be treated as a

habeas petition, the critical question is whether the motion 
 

4 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

in essence asserts a habeas claim, that is, a claim that propounds a “federal basis for relief from a state court’s judgment of conviction.” Id., at 530 (opinion of the Court). If 

the motion “seeks to add a new ground for” that relief, it 

“will of course qualify” as a second or successive habeas petition. Id., at 532. It will also qualify “if it attacks the federal court’s previous resolution of a [habeas] claim on the 

merits.” Ibid. 

To see how this analysis plays out, imagine a case in 

which a state prisoner files a Rule 60(b) motion alleging 

that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at 

trial. If that claim was not in his initial habeas petition,

the motion constitutes a second or successive habeas petition because it asserts a new reason why he is entitled to 

habeas relief. And if that claim was in his initial habeas 

petition but he now alleges that the court erroneously denied the claim, the motion is still a second or successive habeas petition since it alleges that the court should have 

granted him habeas relief, an argument that is “effectively 

indistinguishable” from the claim that he was entitled to

that relief in the first place. Ibid. In either event, we held 

in Gonzalez, “failing to subject” the motion to §2244(b)

“would be inconsistent with” AEDPA. Id., at 531 (internal 

quotation marks omitted). 

Although Gonzalez concerned a motion under Rule 60(b),

nothing in its reasoning was tied to any specific characteristics of such a motion, and accordingly, there is no good 

reason why a Rule 59(e) motion should not be subject to the 

same rules. Indeed, the application of Gonzalez’s reasoning

is even more clear-cut when a habeas petitioner files a Rule 

59(e) motion. Like its neighbor, Rule 59(e) provides a way 

for a civil litigant to get relief after the entry of judgment,

but a Rule 59(e) motion can seek only “reconsideration of 

matters properly encompassed in a decision on the merits.” 

White v. New Hampshire Dept. of Employment Security, 455 

U. S. 445, 451 (1982); accord, ante, at 10. And a claim that 
 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 5 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

“attacks the federal court’s previous resolution of a claim on 

the merits” is exactly the type of claim that, under Gonzalez, 

is subject to §2244(b)(1) and must therefore be dismissed.

545 U. S., at 532.1 

Today’s opinion thus permits precisely the type of circumvention that Gonzalez prevents. Consider again the habeas

petitioner with the allegedly bad trial lawyer. Suppose

that, after the district court denies an ineffective-assistance 

claim in his initial petition, he submits three effectively indistinguishable filings under different headers: a second 

habeas petition asserting the same claim again; a Rule 

60(b) motion disputing the court’s resolution of the claim; 

and a Rule 59(e) motion doing the same. The first two will 

face dismissal under §2244(b)(1). But, under today’s decision, the third may proceed. And not only that, if a pro se

litigant does not appreciate that he can get around 

§2244(b)(1) by calling his second or successive petition a 

Rule 59(e) motion, a court may “ignore the legal label that

[the] pro se litigant attaches to” his filing, treat the petition 

as a Rule 59(e) motion, and voilà, §2244(b) disappears from

view. Castro v. United States, 540 U. S. 375, 381 (2003). 

This allows a habeas petitioner to obtain “a second chance

to have the merits determined favorably” in contravention

of AEDPA and our reasoning in Gonzalez, 545 U. S., at 533, 

n. 5. 

III 

The Court provides a variety of reasons for refusing to 

follow Gonzalez, but none is sound. 

—————— 1Rule 59(e) motions can also assert “newly discovered or previously 

unavailable evidence” and “intervening change[s] in controlling law.” 11 

C. Wright, A. Miller, & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure §2810.1

(3d ed. Supp. 2020). Banister’s motion did neither, see Brief for Petitioner 47, so this case concerns only the types of claims that require automatic dismissal under 28 U. S. C. §2244(b)(1). 
 

 

6 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

A 

The Court begins by saying that a Rule 59(e) motion is 

part of a petitioner’s “one fair opportunity to seek federal 

habeas relief,” ante, at 1, but if there is a reason why a Rule

60(b) motion could not also be called part of that “opportunity,” the Court does not offer one. A repetitive habeas

claim is as much a repetitive habeas claim if filed under 

Rule 59(e) in 28 days or under Rule 60(b) at, say, day 29. 

The label is the only “variance” that explains why one is

now allowed but not the other. Ante, at 13. 

B 

The Court proclaims that Rules 59(e) and 60(b) differ “in

just about every way that matters to the inquiry here,” ante, 

at 13, but none of the differences that the Court cites matter 

under Gonzalez’s reasoning, which relies on the nature of 

the claim asserted in the post-judgment motion. Under 

that reasoning, it makes no difference that a Rule 60(b) motion may be filed later than a Rule 59(e) motion, that a Rule 

59(e) motion (but not a later-filed Rule 60(b) motion) suspends a judgment’s finality for purposes of appeal, or that

an order denying a Rule 59(e) motion merges with the judgment for purposes of appeal, whereas a Rule 60(b) denial is

separately appealable. Ante, at 14–15. Gonzalez did not 

rely on a single one of the Rule 60(b) characteristics mentioned by the Court here, and none matters under Gonzalez’s reasoning. On the contrary, Gonzalez’s logic was simple: If a motion advances a habeas claim, it counts as a 

habeas petition. 

C 

The Court looks to the history of motions to alter or 

amend a judgment, see ante, at 7–8, but it is hard to see 

how that history has a bearing on the issue in this case. As 

the Court notes, trial courts once had the power to correct

errors in their judgments during but not after the term in 
 

 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 7 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

which the judgment was handed down, but how this is relevant to our issue is a mystery. The point in time at which 

a court’s power to alter or amend a judgment ends (whether 

at the conclusion of a court term or at a specified point after 

the entry of the judgment) is used to determine whether a 

motion to alter or amend is timely. But the issue before us 

is not whether Banister filed his Rule 59(e) motion within

the time allowed for such motions (he did) but whether his 

motion counts as a habeas petition. The question would be 

exactly the same if district courts still had terms of court 

and his motion was filed before the term ended. 

D 

In arguing that “[t]his case requires us to choose between” §2244(b) and Rule 59(e), ante, at 5, the Court invokes Habeas Rule 12, which states that “[t]he Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure, to the extent that they are not inconsistent with any statutory provisions or these rules, may 

be applied to a proceeding under these rules.” According to

the Court, AEDPA does not “place Rule 59(e) motions in

th[e] category” of second or successive petitions, and therefore AEDPA does not alter Rule 59(e)’s role. Ante, at 10. 

This argument greatly exaggerates the very limited role

of Habeas Rule 12. Although “habeas corpus proceedings

are characterized as ‘civil,’” “the label is gross and inexact.” 

Harris v. Nelson, 394 U. S. 286, 293–294 (1969). They are

“unique,” and even before AEPDA they “conformed with

civil practice only in a general sense.” Id., at 294. Thus, we 

have contrasted a “civil action, governed by the full panoply 

of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” with the “swift, 

flexible, and summary determination” of a habeas claim. 

Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U. S. 475, 495–496 (1973). The 

Civil Rules themselves give AEDPA precedence. They “apply to proceedings for habeas corpus” only insofar as “the

practice in those proceedings is not specified in a federal

statute” or the Habeas Rules and “has previously conformed 
 

8 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

to the practice in civil actions.” Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 

81(a)(4). And as we have observed, “[s]uch specific evidence

as there is with respect to the intent of the draftsmen of the 

[civil] rules indicates nothing more than a general and nonspecific understanding that the rules would have very limited application to habeas corpus proceedings.” Harris, 394 

U. S., at 295. 

Let’s count some of the ways in which habeas proceedings

deviate from the Civil Rules. Discovery rules, which are 

central to civil litigation, do not apply “as a matter of right”

in habeas proceedings. Ibid. Instead, a court’s leave is required for factual development. See Habeas Rule 6(a); see

also Bracy v. Gramley, 520 U. S. 899, 908–909 (1997). Another civil mainstay, the Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss,

also has no place in habeas. See Browder v. Director, Dept. 

of Corrections of Ill., 434 U. S. 257, 269, n. 14 (1978); see 

also Habeas Rule 4 (responsive pleading not required unless the court directs). Indeed, the entire “civil action procedural sequencing—from a motion to dismiss, to an answer, to discovery, and ultimately to trial—[i]s not

applicable in habeas cases.” O’Brien v. Moore, 395 F. 3d 

499, 506 (CA4 2005) (discussing Browder, 434 U. S., at 269, 

n. 14). Even nationwide service of process authorized by 

statute, rather than the Civil Rules, is unavailable in habeas. See Schlanger v. Seamans, 401 U. S. 487, 489–491, 

and n. 4 (1971). And though courts have long applied “noncontroversial rules in habeas corpus proceedings,” Harris, 

394 U. S., at 294, n. 5, the mixed bag shows habeas’s hybrid 

nature. See 4 C. Wright, A. Miller, & A. Steinman, Federal

Practice and Procedure §1021, n. 6 (4th ed. Supp. 2020) 

(Wright & Miller) (cataloging other rules that courts have

and have not applied).

Our decisions rejecting some of the Civil Rules’ procedural “formalisms” have often inured to the benefit of habeas petitioners. Hensley v. Municipal Court, San JoseMilpitas Judicial Dist., Santa Clara Cty., 411 U. S. 345, 350 
Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 9 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

(1973). In O’Neal v. McAninch, 513 U. S. 432 (1995), we 

rejected a State’s argument that Rule 61 put the burden on

habeas petitioners to resolve doubts about whether trial errors were harmless, and we reached that conclusion primarily because habeas proceedings are “[u]nlike the civil cases

cited by the State.” Id., at 440. In Holiday v. Johnston, 313 

U. S. 342 (1941), the petitioner sought habeas relief from a

district court but received a hearing before an Alcatraz commissioner. We held that Rule 53, which allows a court to 

send some issues to a “master,” did not justify that practice

in habeas cases; the federal habeas statute contemplated

proceedings before judges, giving Rule 53 “no application.” 

Id., at 353. In so holding, we rejected the argument that

the practice at issue was permissible because it was “a convenient one,” id., at 352, the same claim that the Court 

makes about Rule 59(e), ante, at 11. Instead, we held that 

a court “may not substitute another more convenient mode” 

from civil practice if it contravenes “the Congressional policy” reflected “in the Habeas Corpus Act.” Holiday, 313 

U. S., at 352. 

AEDPA has only widened the gap between habeas and 

other civil proceedings, see Felker v. Turpin, 518 U. S. 651, 

664 (1996), and Gonzalez illustrates the point. Like Rule 

59(e) and the other Rules just discussed, no federal habeas

provision “expressly circumscribe[s]” the application of 

Rule 60(b) in habeas cases. 545 U. S., at 529. And like Rule 

59(e) but unlike the discovery rules, which were “innovations,” Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U. S. 495, 500 (1947), Rule 

60(b) descends from “ancient” civil practice, 11 Wright & 

Miller §2851. But AEDPA so “dramatically” reshaped federal habeas procedure, Rhines, 544 U. S., at 274, that courts 

must proceed “in a manner consistent with the objects of 

the statute” even where it does not address a given detail, 

Calderon v. Thompson, 523 U. S. 538, 554 (1998). Where a 

Civil Rule does conflict with a specific AEDPA provision 

like §2244(b), AEDPA necessarily prevails. 
 

10 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

On its own, then, Habeas Rule 12 cannot do the work that 

Banister needs. He must show that AEDPA itself contains 

the loophole he seeks to exploit, and he has not done so. The 

refrain echoed by the Court—that a Rule 59(e) motion

comes included with a petitioner’s “one full and fair opportunity” for habeas relief, Brief for Petitioner 1; see ante, at 

1—simply begs the question that AEDPA answers: namely,

what that opportunity entails. It does not entail “a second 

chance to have the merits” of a habeas claim “determined 

favorably.” Gonzalez, 545 U. S., at 533, n. 5. 

Lifting partial quotations from our decision in Browder, 

434 U. S., at 271, the Court states that we have “already 

held” that Rule 59(e) is “ ‘thoroughly consistent’ with habeas law,” ante, at 7, but the partial quotations are highly 

misleading. The case had nothing to do with the interplay

between Rule 59(e) and restrictions on filing a second or 

successive habeas petition.

In Browder, a prison warden moved for reconsideration 

of a judgment granting habeas relief, but he did not do so 

within the time allowed by Rule 59 and Rule 52(b), which

sets the same deadline for a motion to amend factual findings. All that the Court held was that those “time limits” 

were “thoroughly consistent with the spirit of the habeas

corpus statutes,” which did not address the “timeliness” of 

such a motion. 434 U. S., at 270–271. 

 Browder in no way establishes that it is “thoroughly consistent with” AEDPA to allow a petitioner to accomplish via 

a Rule 59(e) motion what the prisoner could not achieve by 

honestly labeling his motion as a habeas petition.2 The 

warden, of course, was not seeking habeas relief, so his Rule 

—————— 2 Browder cites two cases for the proposition that courts had power to

alter their judgments “in habeas corpus cases.” 434 U. S., at 270. Neither did so at the habeas petitioner’s request. See Aderhold v. Murphy, 

103 F. 2d 492, 493 (CA10 1939) (sua sponte alteration deemed void on 

appeal); Tiberg v. Warren, 192 F. 458, 462 (CA9 1911) (government 

motion). 
Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 11 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

59(e) motion could not have constituted a successive habeas

petition. 

E 

This brings us to the Court’s final redoubt, pre-AEDPA 

practice. We have sometimes looked there in interpreting 

AEDPA’s terms. See Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U. S. 473, 486 

(2000). But assuming pre-AEDPA practice can inform our 

understanding of AEDPA, history lends no real support to 

the Court’s holding that a Rule 59(e) motion cannot count 

as a second or successive habeas petition. Research has 

found exactly one decision that directly addresses that

question, and its holding is contrary to the Court’s position.

In Bannister v. Armontrout, 4 F. 3d 1434 (CA8 1993), after the District Court denied a habeas petition, the prisoner

filed a Rule 59(e) motion asserting a new claim. The Eighth

Circuit held that this motion “was the functional equivalent 

of a second petition” and rejected it on that ground. Id., at 

1445. The Court does not attempt to distinguish that case,

and cannot cite a single pre-AEDPA case that directly substantiates its claim about pre-AEDPA practice. 

Without any direct support, the Court reads volumes into

what it sees as the disparate treatment of habeas petitioners’ Rule 60(b) and 59(e) motions in pre-AEDPA days. PreAEDPA courts often, though not always, treated prisoners’ 

Rule 60(b) motions as successive habeas petitions. See 

Brewer v. Ward, 1996 WL 194830, *1 (CA10, Apr. 22, 1996) 

(noting the trend as to motions “raising new claims” but affirming a denial of Rule 60(b) relief on the merits). By contrast, only Bannister denied a Rule 59(e) motion on that basis, and a handful of cases denied (or reversed lower-court

decisions granting) habeas petitioners’ Rule 59(e) motions 

on other grounds. Ante, at 9. From this state of affairs, the 

Court infers that Rule 59(e) motions were generally regarded as free from the pre-AEDPA strictures on second or

successive petitions. In other words, the Court infers that 
 

12 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

judges thought that they were required to decide Rule 59(e)

motions on the merits even if they were second or successive

habeas petitions in substance. 

This is nothing but speculation, and there is a more likely 

explanation for the disparity between reported cases dismissing Rule 60(b) and Rule 59(e) motions as second or successive. Before AEDPA, whether to entertain a successive 

habeas petition was left to “the sound discretion of the federal trial judges,” Sanders v. United States, 373 U. S. 1, 18 

(1963), and therefore the disparity may be attributable, not 

to what judges thought they were required to do, but to 

what they chose to do as a matter of discretion. And the 

Court provides the obvious reasons why judges might have

been more inclined to reach the merits in Rule 59(e) cases. 

A Rule 59(e) motion raises claims that the judge recently

decided; a Rule 60(b) motion may raise entirely new claims

and may be filed later. For these reasons, judges might

have found it more attractive to decide the merits in Rule 

59(e) cases when they had the discretion to do so. 

The important point, however, is that the Court can only

speculate. But based on that speculation, the Court is willing to conclude that in the days before AEDPA, judges

thought that they were legally required to decide the merits 

of second or successive habeas petitions if they were labeled 

as Rule 59(e) motions and that AEDPA’s express and tight 

restrictions on second or successive petitions were enacted

on the understanding that this feature of pre-AEDPA practice would not be disturbed. That is a tall order indeed, and 

this inconclusive case law does not suffice. See, e.g., 

Isbrandtsen Co. v. Johnson, 343 U. S. 779, 783 (1952) 

(“Statutes . . . are to be read with a presumption favoring

the retention of long-established and familiar principles”). 
 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 13 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

IV 

A 

The Court muses that its opinion “may make habeas proceedings more efficient,” ante, at 11, but improving statutes

is not our job, and in any event, the Court’s assessment of 

the consequences of its decision is dubious.

State prisoners file thousands of federal habeas petitions 

per year.3 After a petition is denied, as most are, the Court

suggests that Rule 59(e) gives federal habeas courts a 

chance “to correct their own errors” or “to clarify their reasoning,” but the value of this opportunity is questionable 

since, as the Court admits, “Rule 59(e) motions seldom 

change judicial outcomes.” Ante, at 11. Statistics agree

that, in the main, district courts resolve habeas petitions

correctly. In 2019, appeals courts reversed in only a 

miniscule percentage of appeals in cases involving state

prisoners’ habeas claims.4 

The Court is probably right that, once in a while, a

Rule 59(e) motion could save the need for an appeal. But 

that positive effect is very likely outweighed by the burden 

imposed by the entirely meritless Rule 59(e) motions that

today’s decision will give prisoners an incentive to file. Not 

only will prisoners file such motions on the off chance of 

winning, but some may file simply to toll the deadline for 

filing an appeal, Fed. Rule App. Proc. 4(a)(4)(A)(iv). The 

burden of wading through these motions will not always be

“slight.” Ante, at 11; see App. 219–253 (Banister’s motion).

And the aggregate burden on the district courts may actually be quite substantial. 

The Court’s decision would be more understandable if it 

—————— 3See Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts, Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics, U. S. District Courts–Civil Cases Commenced, by Basis

of Jurisdiction and Nature of Suit (2019) (Table C–2). State prisoners’

habeas petitions are listed under the “Federal Question” category of “Private Cases.” 4See id., Table B–5. 
 

 

 

14 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

offered any real benefit for habeas petitioners, but it does 

not. As Banister concedes, see Brief for Petitioner 33, the 

standard for Rule 59(e) relief from an erroneous judgment 

is higher than the standard for permission to appeal. Compare Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U. S. 322, 336 (2003) (“reasonable debate” standard for a certificate of appealability), 

with 11 Wright & Miller §2810.1 (“manifest error” standard 

for Rule 59(e) relief ). So if a prisoner has a claim that can 

prevail under Rule 59(e), there should be no problem in obtaining permission to appeal. That is the procedure prescribed by AEDPA, and it is an entirely reasonable one that 

does not prejudice habeas petitioners. 

B 

If treated according to their substance rather than their 

label, Rule 59(e) motions would still have “an unquestionably valid role to play” in habeas cases. Gonzalez, 545 U. S., 

at 534. The construction of AEDPA in Gonzalez did not 

doom the Rule 60(b) motion at issue in that case. Although 

deficient for other reasons, that motion challenged “a nonmerits aspect of the first federal habeas proceeding,” the denial of the habeas petition on timeliness grounds. Ibid. 

That sort of claim is not the equivalent of a habeas claim.

It does not assert a federal basis for relief from the statecourt judgment; rather, it seeks to cure a “defect” in the federal habeas proceeding itself. Id., at 532. 

Rule 59(e) motions can do the same. Through that Rule,

a petitioner can flag manifest errors in a district court’s application of AEDPA’s statute of limitations, AEDPA’s exhaustion requirement, or the rules of procedural default.

See Webb v. Davis, 940 F. 3d 892, 898 (CA5 2019) (adding 

“the district court’s denial of funding, the district court’s

dismissal of claims without conducting an evidentiary hearing, . . . the district court’s failure to consider claims presented in the habeas application,” and “the denial of a claim 

based on a valid appeal waiver” (internal quotation marks 
 

Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 15 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

omitted)). These challenges relate only to a petitioner’s

ability to assert a claim, not the merits of the claim itself. 

Under Gonzalez, a petitioner could seek reconsideration of

them unencumbered by §2244(b).

That is not what Banister sought. In substance, his Rule 

59(e) motion was simply a repackaged version of his petition, and since the Fifth Circuit had not authorized him to 

file it, the District Court had no jurisdiction to consider it.

See Burton v. Stewart, 549 U. S. 147, 153 (2007) (per 

curiam). 

V 

The question remains whether Banister’s Rule 59(e) motion tolled his appeal deadline. Under 28 U. S. C. §2107(a), 

the Fifth Circuit could hear his appeal only if he filed it

within 30 days of the District Court’s judgment. See Hamer 

v. Neighborhood Housing Servs. of Chicago, 583 U. S. ___, 

___ (2017) (slip op., at 1). During that time, Banister filed 

his Rule 59(e) motion, but he did not file his appeal until 66 

days after the court denied his habeas petition. 

Appellate Rule 4(a) provides that “the time to file an appeal runs for all parties from the entry of the order disposing of,” among other things, a Rule 59(e) motion. Fed. Rule 

App. Proc. 4(a)(4)(A)(iv). Not on that list: successive habeas 

petitions. Since that is what Banister’s Rule 59(e) motion

was in substance, it did not toll his appeal deadline.

Banister contends that, even if his Rule 59(e) motion constituted a habeas petition, the simple act of filing it gave

him more time to appeal. He points to the statement in 

Artuz v. Bennett, 531 U. S. 4 (2000), that an application is

commonly regarded as having been “‘filed’” if “it is delivered to, and accepted by, the appropriate court officer for

placement into the official record.” Id., at 8. Under this 

definition, he argues, his motion was filed, and therefore, 

the time to take an appeal was tolled until it was denied.

This argument fails because the timeliness of Banister’s 
 

16 BANISTER v. DAVIS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

appeal does not depend on whether what Banister labeled 

a Rule 59(e) motion was “filed” in the District Court. Under 

Appellate Rule 4(a), the time to appeal runs from the date

when the district court finally disposes of a motion falling 

within one of six categories, including motions to alter or 

amend the judgment under Rule 59. And whether a motion 

falls into one of those categories depends on the substance

of the motion, not the label that is affixed to it. See, e.g., 

Budinich v. Becton Dickinson & Co., 486 U. S. 196, 199– 

200, 203 (1988) (a motion for attorney’s fees is not equivalent to a Rule 59(e) motion and did not toll the time to appeal); State Nat. Ins. Co. v. County of Camden, 824 F. 3d 

399, 410 (CA3 2016); Yost v. Stout, 607 F. 3d 1239, 1243 

(CA10 2010); Borrero v. Chicago, 456 F. 3d 698, 700 (CA7 

2006); Moody Nat. Bank of Galveston v. GE Life and Annuity Assurance Co., 383 F. 3d 249, 251 (CA5 2004); Jones v. 

UNUM Life Ins. Co. of America, 223 F. 3d 130, 136 (CA2 

2000). Thus, to toll the time to appeal, Banister’s motion 

had to be a motion to alter or amend, and because §2244(b)

dictates that his motion be treated as a habeas petition, it 

cannot be allowed to toll the time to appeal. 

* * * 

I would hold that a Rule 59(e) motion that constitutes a

second or successive habeas petition is subject to §2244(b) 

and that such a motion does not toll the time to appeal. I 

therefore conclude that the Fifth Circuit was correct to dismiss Banister’s untimely appeal. Because the Court holds 

to the contrary, I respectfully dissent.