On Point: B. Federal

Terrance Bernard Davis v. Borgen, 349 F.3d 1027 ( 7th Cir. 03-2354, 11/20/03)

Issue/Holding: A certificate of appealability of dismissal of a habeas petition filed four years after the deadline is vacated:

To recap the statutory requirements: (1) A certificate of appealability may be issued only if the prisoner has at least one substantial constitutional question for appeal.

Darrell D. Cage v. McCaughtry, 305 F.3d 625 (7th Cir. 2002) 
For Cage: Calvin R. Malone

Issue/Holding: “When we make a mistake and issue a certificate of appealability that specifies an improper ground, counsel for both sides, rather than indulging a fiction of judicial infallibility, should inform us before briefing begins and ask us to amend the certificate, which is within our power because even an ‘unfounded’

Bernard L. Beyer v. Litscher, 306 F.3d 504 (7th Cir. 2002)

Issue/Holding: Certificate of Appealability required by 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(3) must specifically identify a substantial constitutional issue. Declaration of purely statutory issue isn’t enough, and it is incumbent on counsel to bring this defect to the appellate court’s attention. Nonetheless, this appellant is allowed to proceed, though future litigants are cautioned: “Future petitioners and their lawyers should undertake to show that a substantial constitutional issue exists,