Opinion ID: 2994915
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Constitutionality of the sec. 2255

Text: Statute of Limitations Finally, Montenegro raises two constitutional claims in hopes of resurrecting his habeas petition. He first argues that the government’s interpretation of the due diligence requirement under the sec. 2255 statute of limitations violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Because we have rejected the government’s narrow interpretation of the due diligence requirement under sec. 2255 para.4, this is no longer an issue. Montenegro’s alternative constitutional argument is that a time limit on the use of sec. 2255 violates either the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment or the Eighth Amendment if it forecloses collateral relief by an innocent person. This argument may encounter difficulties under Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390 (1993), and Lindh v. Murphy, 96 F.3d 856, 867-68, 871-74 (7th Cir. 1996) (en banc), rev’d on other grounds, 521 U.S. 320 (1997), though it draws some support from dicta in decisions of other circuits suggesting that claims of actual innocence deserve special protection. See Triestman v. United States, 124 F.3d 361, 379-80 (2d Cir. 1997); In re Dorsainvil, 119 F.3d 245, 248 (3d Cir. 1997). Courts do not resolve constitutional challenges to federal statutes unless unavoidable, however, and here resolution is avoidable. The sort of innocence for which the best constitutional claim to collateral relief would be available occurs when, even if the trier of fact believed everything charged in the indictment, these acts just do not constitute a crime. See Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. 614 (1998); Davis v. United States, 417 U.S. 333 (1974). Montenegro does not make such an argument, or anything close to it. Instead he claims to be innocent of the sentence enhancement for gun possession because the evidence presented in support of that enhancement consisted solely of the testimony of his co-conspirator, whose statements, according to Montenegro, the judge should not have believed. His claim, in other words, concerns a supposed error in the application of the Sentencing Guidelines, and arguments of this sort generally are not appropriate even for timely collateral review. See Scott v. United States, 997 F.2d 340 (7th Cir. 1993). Given the long history of judicial discretion over sentencing in non-capital offenses--until the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 added 18 U.S.C. sec. 3742(a), there was essentially no direct appellate review of non-capital sentences, let alone collateral review of them--there is no plausible constitutional argument that a prisoner must be given an indefinite period to wage a collateral attack on his sentence. Montenegro had an unobstructed procedural shot and he missed the target; nothing in the statute itself made the remedy inadequate, and nothing in the statute violated Montenegro’s rights, constitutional or otherwise. See Davenport, 147 F.3d at 609. For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s denial of Montenegro’s motion. /1 Section 2255 para.6(4) states that the time limit begins running from the date on which the facts supporting the claim or claims presented could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence. /2 The specification of issues in a certificate of appealability is non-jurisdictional. See Owens v. Boyd, 235 F.3d 356, 358 (7th Cir. 2000); Young v. United States, 124 F.3d 794, 798-99 (7th Cir. 1997). /3 Recall that, under sec. 2255, a prisoner can bring a successive motion only if it contains newly discovered evidence of innocence or involves a new rule of constitutional law made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court.