Retroactivity – Pleas & Sentencing

By: Derek Hawkins//April 18, 2016//

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US Supreme Court

Case Name: Welch v. United States

Case No.: 15-6418

Focus: Retroactivity – Pleas & Sentencing

New substantive rule in Johnson v. United States has retroactive effect in cases on collateral review

“An applicant seeking a certificate of appealability in a §2255 proceeding must make “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” §2253(c)(2). That standard is met when “reasonable jurists could debate whether . . . the petition should have been resolved in a different manner.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U. S. 473, 484. The question whether Welch met that standard implicates a broader legal issue: whether Johnson is a substantive decision with retroactive effect in cases on collateral review. If so, then on the present record reasonable jurists could at least debate whether Welch should obtain relief in his collateral challenge to his sentence”

Vacated and Remandd

Dissenting: THOMAS

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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