WASHINGTON, DC – Following today’s decision at the Supreme Court in Pitchford v. Cain, a case in which the Court considered 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:

Today’s decision holds that the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) offers a pathway to habeas relief for Terry Pitchford. As explained in the amici curiae brief the Constitutional Accountability Center filed along with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Congress, when passing AEDPA, preserved an important role for federal courts to review state-court convictions, including Pitchford’s, for certain errors. The Supreme Court’s decision affirms that role, recognizing that, although the AEDPA standard of review is solicitous of state decisions, “deference does not mean abdication” of review by federal courts.