Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 553.0

529US2

Unit: $U50

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SLACK v. McDANIEL

Opinion of the Court

First, when a habeas corpus petitioner seeks to initiate
an appeal of the dismissal of a habeas corpus petition after
April 24, 1996 (the effective date of AEDPA), the right to
appeal is governed by the certiﬁcate of appealability (COA)
requirements now found at 28 U. S. C. § 2253(c) (1994 ed.,
Supp. III). This is true whether the habeas corpus petition
was ﬁled in the district court before or after AEDPA’s effec-
tive date.

Second, when the district court denies a habeas petition
on procedural grounds without reaching the prisoner’s un-
derlying constitutional claim, a COA should issue (and an
appeal of the district court’s order may be taken) if the pris-
oner shows, at least, that jurists of reason would ﬁnd it de-
batable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial
of a constitutional right, and that jurists of reason would
ﬁnd it debatable whether the district court was correct in its
procedural ruling.

Third, a habeas petition which is ﬁled after an initial peti-
tion was dismissed without adjudication on the merits for
failure to exhaust state remedies is not a “second or succes-
sive” petition as that term is understood in the habeas corpus
context. Federal courts do, however, retain broad powers
to prevent duplicative or unnecessary litigation.

I

Petitioner Antonio Slack was convicted of second-degree
murder in Nevada state court in 1990. His direct appeal
was unsuccessful. On November 27, 1991, Slack ﬁled a peti-
tion for writ of habeas corpus in federal court under 28
U. S. C. § 2254. Early in the federal proceeding, Slack de-
cided to litigate claims he had not yet presented to the Ne-
vada courts. He could not raise the claims in federal court
because, under the exhaustion of remedies rule explained in
Rose v. Lundy, 455 U. S. 509 (1982), a federal court was re-
quired to dismiss a petition presenting claims not yet liti-