Brief of Amicus Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Petitioner-Appellant.

Argument: NACDL’s amicus brief argues that under the savings clause of 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e), a prisoner may seek habeas corpus relief through 28 U.S.C. § 2241 under limited circumstances: when the § 2255 remedy is “inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of [the prisoner’s] detention.”  28 U.S.C. § 2255(e).  For 20 years, the Fifth Circuit has recognized that the § 2255 remedy is “inadequate or ineffective” if a petitioner cannot seek relief despite a retroactively applicable Supreme Court decision establishing that the petitioner may have been convicted of a nonexistent crime.  Although that test leaves the door closed on some actual-innocence claims that should be recognized, it is generally consistent with the savings-clause tests applied in nearly every other federal court of appeals.  Most importantly, that test confirms that the savings clause offers more than a hollow process providing no practical opportunity to end unlawful imprisonment.  The Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, by contrast, have held that the savings clause applies only if the procedure afforded by § 2255 was formally unavailable.  According to those courts, so long as there was some theoretical chance to assert a claim under § 2255—even if the claim was futile or frivolous under existing precedent—the remedy was adequate and effective.  The Fifth Circuit should not modify or overrule its savings-clause jurisprudence to align itself with the Tenth and Eleventh Circuits.  The test applied in those circuits contravenes the text of the savings clause and congressional intent, poses constitutional concerns, and would force petitioners and their counsel to disregard binding precedent, court rules, and ethical obligations that forbid arguments that would be frivolous under settled law.  Moreover, application of the formal-process test would undermine public confidence in the justice system’s treatment of prisoners who contend that retroactive changes in the law mean they are actually innocent.

Brief of the Innocence Project and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner.

Argument: It is crucial that avenues remain open to assert claims based on newly discovered evidence of innocence. Innocent convicts face enormous challenges in uncovering and litigating new evidence of innocence. The Section 2255 Savings Clause requires meaningfully adequate consideration of newly discovered evidence of innocence. The Court should eliminate its requirement that motions for authorization to file successive habeas petitions be limited to the Court's pre-printed form.

En Banc Brief of Amici Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Petitioner-Appellant.

Argument: Section 2255 relief is "inadequate or ineffective" if the petitioner does not have a "genuine opportunity" to challenge his sentence. The weight of appellate authority suggests that a section 2255 proceeding is "inadequate or ineffective" if the petitioner lacks a "genuine opportunity" to challenge his sentence. The Savings Clause’s text, structure, and history confirm the majority view. An opportunity to challenge a sentence is not genuine if the challenge would have been futile. McCarthan never had a "genuine opportunity" to challenge his sentence. The Savings Clause opens the door to sentencing challenges, not just challenges to the execution of a sentence or when the sentencing court no longer exists. NACDL’s proposed test would not raise policy concerns.