reasonable-jurists

53 cases — ← All topics

Case	Title	Lower Court	Docketed	Status	Flags	Tags	Question Presented
25-6335	Jake Paul Heiney v. Ashley Richardson, Director, Lucas County Adult Probation Department, et al.	Sixth Circuit	2025-12-10	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certificate-of-appealability district-court evidentiary-review habeas-corpus reasonable-jurists state-court-record	Whether a district court must review evidence in the state-court record when the habeas petitioner alleges it demonstrates that the state court unreas…
25-5876	William Housman v. Laurel Harry, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al.	Third Circuit	2025-10-14	Denied	IFP	appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability federal-constitutional-claim judicial-review reasonable-jurists state-court-decision	Does a state court's divided decision on the merits of a federal constitutional claim demonstrate that reasonable jurists would debate the claim's mer…
25-5760	Darval Ledet v. Keith Cooley, Warden	Fifth Circuit	2025-09-30	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	constitutional-right district-court habeas-corpus miller-el reasonable-jurists slack-standard	Whether Ledet made a substantial showing of denial of a constitutional right under MillerEl v. Cockrell, such that reasonable jurists would find the d…
24-7454	William Demont White, Jr. v. Lisa Stenseth, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2025-06-18	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability federal-court habeas-corpus procedural-grounds reasonable-jurists	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about denying a certificate of appealability when other courts have reso…
24-7212	Dequarn Markeyth Bell v. Lisa Stenseth, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2025-05-15	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability federal-court habeas-corpus reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' with the denial of habeas relief when other courts have resolved similar…
24-939	Kendall Streb v. United States	Eighth Circuit	2025-03-03	Denied	Response Waived	certificate-of-appealability habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance plea-bargaining reasonable-jurists sentencing-guidelines	Is the 'reasonable jurists' test being administered faithfully and consistently across federal circuits, and do Lafler, Frye, and Padilla precedents r…
23-7558	Marcus Jones v. United States	Eighth Circuit	2024-05-24	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights district-court-ruling judicial-review merits-denial merits-determination procedural-denial reasonable-jurists	whether-court-of-appeals-denial-of-certificate-of-appealability
23-7530	Deandre Lenier Neal-Hill v. United States	Eighth Circuit	2024-05-22	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	appeals certificate-of-appealability civil-rights constitutional-right due-process federal-courts habeas-corpus meaningful-review merits-denial procedural-denial reasonable-jurists standing	whether-certificate-of-appealability-denial-requires-explanation
22-7589	Troy G. Saxton v. Jay Forshey, Warden	Sixth Circuit	2023-05-18	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 brown-v-ohio certificate-of-appealability double-jeopardy drug-possession habeas habeas-corpus reasonable-jurists spatial-units	Whether a habeas petitioner satisfies his burden under 28 U.S.C. §2253(c)(2) for the issuance of a certificate of appealability
22-7052	Colby Todd Dubose v. United States	Ninth Circuit	2023-03-21	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	categorical-approach certificate-of-appealability generic-burglary non-permanent-structures oregon-first-degree-burglary overnight-accommodation reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation stitt-decision stitt-v-united-states	Whether Oregon first-degree burglary remains categorically broader than generic burglary after Stitt because it covers non-permanent and mobile struct…
22-6667	Robert Henry Steele v. Dan Redington	Eighth Circuit	2023-01-31	Denied	IFP	appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability due-process eighth-circuit habeas-corpus judicial-review procedural-standard reasonable-jurists standard-of-review summary-reversal	Whether this Court should summarily reverse the Eighth Circuit's denial of a COA where the underlying issues were clearly debatable by jurists of reas…
22-507	Tyson Martin v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections	Eleventh Circuit	2022-11-30	Denied	Response Waived	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability due-process federal-procedure habeas-corpus judicial-review miller-el-standard miller-el-v-cockrell reasonabl-jurists-debate reasonable-jurists	Whether the court of appeals improperly denied the Petitioner a certificate of appealability
22-5850	Justin Michael Fenney v. Tracy Beltz, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2022-10-18	Denied	IFP	2253-statute 28-usc-2253 appellate-relief certificate-of-appealability conviction factual-support federal-court-review habeas-corpus judicial-discretion reasonable-jurists	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 where there is no fact…
22-304	Frank Oswald v. Nicholas Mauer, et al.	Sixth Circuit	2022-09-29	Denied	Response Waived	appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability constitutional-claims constitutional-rights due-process habeas-corpus judicial-review reasonable-jurists sixth-circuit	Does a Circuit Court's denial of an application for a Certificate of Appealability based on the merits of the appeal, rather than on whether reasonabl…
22-5557	David Laurence Hodges v. William Bolin, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2022-09-13	Denied	IFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability due-process federal-court federal-courts habeas-corpus judicial-discretion reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 where other courts hav…
22-5291	Barton Ray Gaines v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division	Fifth Circuit	2022-08-04	Denied	IFP	civil-procedure constitutional-rights due-process federal-courts habeas-corpus judicial-review reasonable-jurists recusal rule-60b-motion standard-of-review substantial-showing	Whether GAINES made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right
22-5024	Jerod Rodriguez v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections	Eleventh Circuit	2022-07-05	Denied	Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP	certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure guilty-verdict ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel miller-el-v-cockrell mistrial postconviction-relief prejudice-prong reasonable-jurists sixth-amendment strickland-standard	whether-strickland-prejudice-prong-established
21-8137	David Lee Green v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections	Eleventh Circuit	2022-06-14	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure entrapment ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel miller-el-v-cockrell reasonable-jurists sixth-amendment strategic-decision undercover-operation	Whether an attorney's decision to forego a viable defense can be considered 'strategic' if the attorney misunderstood the law
21-7995	Joseph Kurz v. Tim Hooper, Warden	Fifth Circuit	2022-05-27	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	constitutional-amendments criminal-procedure due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel ex-post-facto fifth-circuit fourteenth-amendment reasonable-jurists sixth-amendment	Whether reasonable jurists would determine there was sufficient evidence to support convictions
21-7928	Timothy Lindsey v. United States	Fifth Circuit	2022-05-20	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2255 acca-enhanced-sentence acca-enhancement circuit-split gatekeeping-standard generic-burglary johnson-motion johnson-v-united-states reasonable-jurists subject-matter-jurisdiction successive-motion	Did the district court have jurisdiction to consider Mr. Lindsey's authorized motion?
21-7297	Jaime B. Garcia v. Warren L. Montgomery, Warden	Ninth Circuit	2022-03-07	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder habeas-corpus jury-instructions legal-theory prosecutorial-concession reasonable-jurists standard-of-review	Whether a certificate of appealability should have been issued when the jury was instructed on an invalid legal theory to convict the petitioner of fi…
21-7274	Kaleb L. Basey v. United States	Ninth Circuit	2022-03-03	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	18-usc-2703 digital-privacy electronic-communications email-preservation fourth-amendment probable-cause reasonable-jurists search-and-seizure warrantless-search	Whether reasonable jurists could disagree with the district court's decision that the initial and continuous, nine-month warrantless preservation of B…
21-6520	Mark J. Zimny v. United States	First Circuit	2021-12-06	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	appeal appellate-court due-process motion-for-summary-disposition reasonable-jurists substantial-question summary-disposition supreme-court-precedent	Did an appellate court contravene Supreme Court precedent by granting the government's motion for summary disposition?
21-6197	Lance Arnold Kingbird v. Vicki Janssen, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2021-11-05	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability circuit-split federal-court-procedure federal-courts habeas-corpus judicial-review reasonable-jurists similar-facts statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 where other courts hav…
21-5647	Adolphus Symonette v. United States	Eleventh Circuit	2021-09-13	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	2255-proceeding certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights district-court-discretion habeas-corpus post-offense-rehabilitation reasonable-jurists resentencing sentencing	Whether reasonable jurists would find the district court's decision to vacate Count 3 of the second superseding indictment while simultaneously denyin…
21-5642	Terry Dibble v. Deanna Brookhart, Warden	Seventh Circuit	2021-09-10	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	appellate-review burglary certificate-of-appealability district-court-conclusion due-process habeas-corpus judicial-discretion jury-instructions legal-standard reasonable-jurists residential-burglary	Did Mr. Dibble present a ground for relief as to which reasonable jurists could differ concerning the correctness of the district court's conclusion, …
21-5533	Marsha A. Springer v. Jeremy Howard, Warden	Sixth Circuit	2021-08-30	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certificate-of-appealability civil-rights constitutional-claim due-process habeas-corpus judicial-review reasonable-jurists sixth-circuit	Is the Sixth Circuit's denial of certificate of appealability contrary to this Court's precedent?
21-5267	Robert Drawn, IV v. Robert Neuschmid, Warden	Ninth Circuit	2021-07-30	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	civil-rights constitutional-claims district-court-assessment due-process equal-protection judicial-review legal-standard qualified-immunity reasonable-jurists summary-judgment writ-of-certiorari	Did petitioner demonstrate that reasonable jurists would find the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong?
21-5019	Noe Perez v. Renee Baker, Warden, et al.	Ninth Circuit	2021-07-07	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	appellate-review certificate-of-appealability constitutional-question fifth-circuit judicial-disagreement nevada-supreme-court ninth-circuit reasonable-jurists seventh-circuit	Did the Ninth Circuit clearly err when it denied Mr. Perez's request for a COA even though three reasonable jurists on Nevada's highest court already …
21-5015	Reginald Franklin v. Robert LeGrand, Warden, et al.	Ninth Circuit	2021-07-06	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certificate-of-appealability due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ninth-circuit post-conviction post-conviction-relief reasonable-jurists trial-counsel	Whether the Ninth Circuit clearly erred in denying Franklin's request for a certificate of appealability
20-7807	Woodrow Andrew Clark v. United States	Eleventh Circuit	2021-04-20	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	civil-procedure claims-assessment constitutional-law district-court due-process judicial-review legal-standard patent procedural-merit reasonable-jurists standing takings	Whether reasonable jurists would find the District Court's assessment of Claims one and two debatable or wrong? Or that the issues presented are adequ…
20-7544	Demian Dominguez, aka Demain Dominguez v. Brian E. Williams, et al.	Ninth Circuit	2021-03-25	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	cause-of-death certificate-of-appealability effective-counsel ninth-circuit prejudice procedural-default reasonable-jurists	Whether the Ninth Circuit's order denying a certificate of appealability was clearly erroneous
20-7295	Isidro Sauceda v. David Shinn, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al.	Ninth Circuit	2021-03-02	Denied	Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP	appealability-standard certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights exculpatory-evidence factual-innocence ineffective-counsel lesser-included-offense ninth-circuit reasonable-jurists willits-instruction	Whether the Ninth Circuit utilized an unduly burdensome certificate-of-appealability standard that contravenes Supreme-Court-precedent
20-6581	Kimberly Hanzlik v. Joseph Joseph, Superintendent, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility	Second Circuit	2020-12-09	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	actual-innocence certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel miller-el-standard reasonable-jurists second-circuit unreasonable-application-of-law	Was the Second Circuit's denial of Petitioner's application for a certificate of appealability unreasonable
20-5964	Marlow Shelton McDonald v. Jeff Titus, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2020-10-08	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability federal-court federal-courts habeas-corpus procedural-grounds reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief on procedural grounds where other courts have…
20-5800	Robert L. Rose v. Lynn Guyer, Warden, et al.	Ninth Circuit	2020-09-25	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	abuse-of-discretion appellate-review certificate-of-appealability discretionary-ruling federal-rules-civil-procedure federal-rules-of-civil-procedure habeas-corpus judicial-procedure reasonable-jurists rule-70(a)	Whether a certificate of appealability is required to appeal an order denying a motion for enforcement made pursuant to Rule 70(a) of the Federal Rule…
20-5274	James S. Harris v. Sherie Korneman, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2020-08-05	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certificate-of-appealability district-court equitable-tolling habeas-corpus limitations-period reasonable-jurists	Did Mr. Harris present reasons for why the one-year limitations period should be equitably tolled in his case to which reasonable jurists could differ…
20-5160	Keith Henderson v. Eddie Miles, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2020-07-27	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability federal-court federal-courts habeas-corpus procedural-grounds reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief on procedural grounds where other courts have…
19-7788	Ulises Corrales Vega v. Connie Horton, Warden	Sixth Circuit	2020-02-26	Denied	IFP	civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-claim due-process frivolous-claim habeas-corpus in-forma-pauperis judicial-review legal-standard reasonable-jurists split standing summary-dismissal writ-of-certiorari	Did the petitioner raise a substantial constitutional claim that was not so patently false or frivolous as to warrant summary dismissal?
19-7505	Lamar James Crump v. Tracy Beltz, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2020-01-30	Denied	IFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability federal-court habeas-corpus procedural-grounds reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief on procedural grounds where other courts have…
19-7327	Antonio Macli v. United States	Eleventh Circuit	2020-01-17	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certificate-of-appealability claim-by-claim claim-determination constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process evidentiary-hearing federal-court federal-courts habeas-corpus reasonable-jurists	Does a federal habeas court have to determine the need for an evidentiary hearing on a claim by claim basis?
18-9046	Richard Shusterman v. United States	Fourth Circuit	2019-05-01	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2255 certificate-of-appealability district-court due-process fourth-circuit habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel reasonable-jurists standard-of-review	Did the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals err in denying issuance of a Certificate of Appealability of a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 ruling when the District Court…
18-8820	Carman L. Deck v. Richard Jennings, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2019-04-15	Denied	Relisted (2)IFP	appellate-procedure appellate-review certificate-of-appealability death-penalty district-court due-process habeas-corpus judicial-discretion procedural-standard reasonable-jurists standard-of-review	Did Mr. Deck present grounds for relief as to which reasonable jurists could differ concerning the correctness of the district court's conclusion, thu…
18-8798	Brent Lynch v. Eddie Miles, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2019-04-11	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability federal-court habeas-corpus procedural-grounds reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief on procedural grounds where other courts have…
18-8695	Deontray Vershon Tate v. Jeff Titus, Warden	Eighth Circuit	2019-04-03	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability federal-court habeas-corpus procedural-grounds reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation	Whether a federal court may find that 'reasonable jurists would not disagree' about the denial of relief on procedural grounds where other courts have…
18-8112	Floyd Andrew Brown, Jr. v. United States	Sixth Circuit	2019-02-22	Denied	Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP	appellate-review certificate-of-appealability civil-rights constitutional-issues constitutional-review due-process habeas-corpus judicial-procedure merit-standard reasonable-jurists section-2255 standard-of-review standing	Should the judgment be vacated and remanded in light of Buck v. Davis?
18-7935	Kahri Smith v. Bonita J. Hoffner, Warden	Sixth Circuit	2019-02-13	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certiorari criminal-procedure felony jurisdiction michigan-law reasonable-jurists self-defense sixth-circuit	Is certiorari appropriate where the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the merits of petitioner's self-defense claim without jurisdiction and is i…
18-7676	Louis Hill v. Cynthia Link, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Graterford, et al.	Third Circuit	2019-01-30	Denied	IFP	certificate-of-appealability civil-rights constitutional-law constitutional-rights due-process habeas-corpus legal-error reasonable-jurists standard-of-review standing substantial-showing third-circuit	Does the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denial of a Certificate of Appealability in the instant matter constitute legal error given it is debatable am…
18-7587	Biven Hudson v. United States	Eleventh Circuit	2019-01-25	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	11th-circuit 28-usc-2255 certificate-of-appealability district-court eleventh-circuit magistrate-court mandatory-minimum minimum-mandatory-enhancement reasonable-jurists sentencing-enhancement sentencing-review	Whether the appellate court erred in denying Mr. Hudson's motion for certificate of appealability
18-6778	DeAngelo Horn v. Julie L. Jones, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections	Eleventh Circuit	2018-11-21	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	certificate-of-appealability deficient-performance eleventh-circuit habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel prejudice reasonable-jurists standard-of-review statutory-interpretation	Did the Eleventh Circuit reach beyond the threshold inquiry for a certificate of appealability and deny a COA based on the merits of the appeal?
18-6733	Laura Shauger v. United States	Third Circuit	2018-11-19	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	28-usc-2255 aba-standards-for-criminal-justice certificate-of-appealability circuit-courts-of-appeals district-court district-court-ruling ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel reasonable-jurists section-2255 sentencing-counsel supreme-court-of-idaho third-circuit	Whether rulings by the district court denying relief are debatable by jurists of reason if rulings by other courts in similar situations arguably supp…
18-524	Eric D. Gathings v. United States	Eighth Circuit	2018-10-19	Denied	Response Waived	appellate-review certificate-of-appealability certificate-of-appealability-coa due-process habeas-corpus judicial-review reasonable-jurists statutory-interpretation suspension-clause	Was the appellate court's summary denial of a certificate of appealability (COA) reciting that it had 'carefully reviewed the original file of the dis…
18-6255	Christopher Earl Oden v. United States	Eleventh Circuit	2018-10-09	Denied	Response WaivedIFP	appellate-procedure certificate-of-appealability circuit-court-precedent circuit-precedent due-process habeas-corpus judicial-review reasonable-jurists standard-of-review	Is it necessary for a petitioner to show that his claim is not foreclosed by binding circuit precedent to obtain a certificate of appealability?