WASHINGTON, DC – Following oral argument at the Supreme Court this morning in Pitchford v. Cain, a case in which the Court is considering whether, under federal habeas law, the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably held that a criminal defendant waived his right to challenge racial bias in his jury selection, Constitutional Accountability Center Appellate Counsel Joshua Blecher-Cohen issued the following reaction:

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) provides a pathway to habeas relief when a state court’s decision rests on an unreasonable factual determination. The existence of that pathway is deliberate: under AEDPA, federal courts play a critical statutory role in reviewing state-court convictions for certain errors.

At oral argument this morning, several Justices read directly from the state trial-court transcript. As that transcript confirms, Pitchford’s counsel sought multiple times to preserve a constitutional objection to the prosecutor’s striking of Black potential jurors. Because the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision to the contrary was factually unreasonable, AEDPA offers a pathway for relief.