§2266 Limitation periods for determining applications and motions

Summary

Give priority to deciding habeas petitions in death-penalty cases. District courts and courts of appeals must handle those cases before other noncapital matters. A district court must decide a capital habeas petition within 450 days after it is filed, or within 60 days after the case is submitted for decision, whichever comes first. The court must give the parties at least 120 days to finish filing papers and, if needed, hold a hearing before the case is submitted. The court can delay once for up to 30 more days if it puts the reason in writing and finds the extra time serves justice. In deciding whether to allow a delay, the court must consider things like whether delay would prevent a miscarriage of justice, whether the case is unusually complex, or whether more time is needed for counsel. A busy court docket is not a reason to delay. These time rules cover initial petitions, second or successive petitions, and cases sent back by an appeals court or the Supreme Court (the clock runs from the remand date). Petitioners cannot use the timing rules to get a stay of execution. No amendment to a petition is allowed after the answer is filed except under the narrow rules in section 2244(b). Missing the deadlines is not a reason to undo a conviction or sentence. The state can ask the court of appeals for a writ of mandamus to enforce district-court deadlines, and the court of appeals must act on that request within 30 days. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts must send Congress an annual report on how well courts follow these time limits and include the written delay orders. A court of appeals must decide appeals in capital habeas cases within 120 days after the reply brief is filed, or if there is no reply, within 120 days after the answering brief is filed. The court must decide petitions for rehearing within 30 days, and if rehearing is granted it must finish the appeal within 120 days after the rehearing order. The same rules about initial, successive, and remanded cases apply on appeal. The timing rules do not give a right to a stay of execution. Missing appellate deadlines does not undo a conviction or sentence. The state may ask the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to enforce appellate deadlines. The Administrative Office must also report to Congress each year on how the courts of appeals follow these limits.