Opinion ID: 783175
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Limitations on Successive Collateral Review Applications

Text: 13 We turn now to an examination of the limitations on successive collateral review applications. Before the AEDPA was enacted, Congress and the Supreme Court restricted judicial consideration of successive applications through statutes, rules, and decisional law. See McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467, 479-88, 111 S.Ct. 1454, 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991). These restrictions applied to claims presented for the first time in a second or successive application (abusive claims) as well as claims that had been presented in previous applications (repetitive claims). 3 See, e.g., Rule 9(b), Rules Governing § 2255 Proceedings. As discussed below, the AEDPA codifies some of the pre-existing limits on successive petitions, and further restricts the availability of relief to habeas petitioners. Felker v. Turpin, 518 U.S. 651, 664, 116 S.Ct. 2333, 135 L.Ed.2d 827 (1996).
14 As amended by the AEDPA, § 2255 bars successive applications unless they contain claims relying on 15 (1) newly discovered evidence that, if proven and viewed in light of the evidence as a whole, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable factfinder would have found the movant guilty of the offense; or 16 (2) a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously unavailable. 17 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 ¶ 8. A separate provision, also enacted as part of the AEDPA, places similar restrictions on state prisoners seeking to file successive applications under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp.2002). See 28 U.S.C.A. § 2244(b)(2) (West Supp.2002). 18 An additional limit created by the AEDPA provides that any claim presented in a second or successive habeas corpus application under section 2254 that was presented in a prior application must be dismissed. Id. § 2244(b)(1). Although this rule is limited by its terms to § 2254 applications, some courts have also applied it to § 2255 applications. See Taylor v. Gilkey, 314 F.3d 832, 836 (7th Cir.2002); Charles v. Chandler, 180 F.3d 753, 758 (6th Cir. 1999) (per curiam). We need not decide here whether to follow this approach.
19 In addition to enacting the substantive standards we have just described, the AEDPA modified the procedures governing successive collateral review applications. As a result of these modifications, a prisoner seeking to file a successive application in the district court must first obtain authorization from the appropriate court of appeals. See 28 U.S.C.A. § 2244(b)(3). The court of appeals must examine the application to determine whether it contains any claim that satisfies § 2244(b)(2) (for state prisoners) or § 2255 ¶ 8 (for federal prisoners). If so, the court should authorize the prisoner to file the entire application in the district court, even if some of the claims in the application do not satisfy the applicable standards. See Nevius v. McDaniel, 104 F.3d 1120, 1121 (9th Cir.1996). Compare 28 U.S.C.A. § 2244(b)(3) (establishing gatekeeping function for court of appeals with respect to second or successive application[s]  (emphasis added)), with id. § 2244(b)(4) (requiring district court to dismiss any claim presented in a second or successive application that does not satisfy applicable standards (emphasis added)). When the application is thereafter submitted to the district court, that court must examine each claim and dismiss those that are barred under § 2244(b) or § 2255 ¶ 8. See 28 U.S.C.A. § 2244(b)(4); see also Reyes-Requena v. United States, 243 F.3d 893, 899 (5th Cir.2001) (holding that § 2244(b)(4) applies in § 2255 cases). 20 In the absence of pre-filing authorization, the district court lacks jurisdiction to consider an application containing abusive or repetitive claims. See Evans v. Smith, 220 F.3d 306, 325 (4th Cir.2000). Moreover, because the authorization requirement applies to the entire application, the jurisdictional effect of § 2244(b)(3) extends to all claims in the application, including those that would not be subject to the limits on successive applications if presented separately. 4 Applications including abusive or repetitive claims along with otherwise reviewable claims have been described as a new breed of mixed petition. Pennington v. Norris, 257 F.3d 857, 858 (8th Cir.2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). The Eighth Circuit has held that a district court that receives such an application should afford the prisoner the choice of seeking authorization from the court of appeals for his second or successive claims, or of amending his petition to delete those claims so he can proceed with the claims that require no authorization. Id. at 859 (internal quotation marks omitted). We agree that this is the appropriate solution.