Last Friday, the Second Circuit issued a published opinion in a case in which the petitioner had made a request for authorization to file a second or successive petition. The decision is Word v. Lord, 11-111-op.
Petitioner sought to pursue a claim that her due process rights were violated when the Appellate Division denied her error coram nobis petition. Oddly, she had previously raised a similar claim in 2004 and authorization was granted, but the district court denied the petition concluding that her challenge concerned only state post-conviction proceedings and therefore was not subject to federal habeas review.
In a short per curiam, the Second Circuit came to the same conclusion as the DJ in the earlier petition. The court held that, consistent with the majority of Circuit Courts to address the issue, that "errors in state post-conviction proceedings do not provide a basis for redress under ยง 2254." This is based on the recognition that "the Constitution does not compel states to provide post-conviction proceedings for relief."
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