Opinion ID: 197507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: standard of review

Text: 10 The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254(d) (Supp.1997), became law on April 24, 1996--after the petitioner filed his habeas petition but before the district court acted upon it. Although the AEDPA alters the standard of review governing the issuance of writs of habeas corpus, the Supreme Court has determined that the AEDPA does not apply to habeas petitions which were pending when the AEDPA became law. See Lindh v. Murphy, --- U.S. ----, ----, 117 S.Ct. 2059, ----, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). The petitioner is therefore entitled to de novo review of his claim that the state court abridged his constitutional rights. See Martin v. Bissonette, 118 F.3d 871, 874-75 (1st Cir.1997); see also Scarpa v. Dubois, 38 F.3d 1, 9 (1st Cir.1994) (explaining that federal courts, although respecting state courts' findings of historical fact, traditionally afford de novo review in regard to ultimate questions presented by state prisoners' habeas petitions), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1129, 115 S.Ct. 940, 130 L.Ed.2d 885 (1995).