Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez

(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2021 1

Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is

being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.

The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been

prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.

See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

SHINN, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF

CORRECTIONS, REHABILITATION AND REENTRY v.

MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR

THE NINTH CIRCUIT

No. 20–1009. Argued December 8, 2021—Decided May 23, 2022*

Respondents David Martinez Ramirez and Barry Lee Jones were each

convicted of capital crimes in Arizona state court and sentenced to

death. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed each case on direct re-

view, and each prisoner was denied state postconviction relief. Each

also filed for federal habeas relief under 28 U. S. C. §2254, arguing

that trial counsel had been ineffective for failing to conduct adequate

investigations. The Federal District Court held in each case that the

prisoner’s ineffective-assistance claim was procedurally defaulted be-

cause it was not properly presented in state court. To overcome proce-

dural default in such cases, a prisoner must demonstrate “cause” to

excuse the procedural defect and “actual prejudice.” Coleman v.

Thompson, 501 U. S. 722, 750. To demonstrate cause, Ramirez and

Jones relied on Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U. S. 1, which held that ineffec-

tive assistance of postconviction counsel may be cited as cause for the

procedural default of an ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim.

In Ramirez’s case, the District Court permitted him to supplement the

record with evidence not presented in state court to support his case to

excuse the procedural default. Assessing the new evidence, the court

excused the procedural default but rejected Ramirez’s ineffective-as-

sistance claim on the merits. The Ninth Circuit reversed and re-

manded for more evidentiary development to litigate the merits of

——————

* Together with Shinn, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections,

Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. v. Jones (see this Court’s Rule 12.4),

also on certiorari to the same court.

2 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Syllabus

Ramirez’s ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim. In Jones’ case,

the District Court held a lengthy evidentiary hearing on “cause” and

“prejudice,” forgave his procedural default, and held that his state trial

counsel had provided ineffective assistance. The State of Arizona pe-

titioned this Court in both cases, arguing that §2254(e)(2) does not per-

mit a federal court to order evidentiary development simply because

postconviction counsel is alleged to have negligently failed to develop

the state-court record.

Held: Under §2254(e)(2), a federal habeas court may not conduct an evi-

dentiary hearing or otherwise consider evidence beyond the state-court

record based on the ineffective assistance of state postconviction coun-

sel. Pp. 6–22.

(a) To respect federal-state dual sovereignty, see Printz v. United

States, 521 U. S. 898, 918, the availability of federal habeas relief is

narrowly circumscribed, see Brown v. Davenport, 596 U. S. ___, ___–

___. For example, only rarely may a federal habeas court hear a claim

or consider evidence that a prisoner did not previously present to the

state courts in compliance with state procedural rules. Pp. 6–13.

(1) Federal habeas review overrides the States’ core power to en-

force criminal law—an intrusion that “imposes special costs” on the

federal system. Engle v. Isaac, 456 U. S. 107, 128. Two of those costs

are particularly relevant here. First, a federal order to retry or release

a state prisoner overrides the State’s sovereign power to enforce “soci-

etal norms through criminal law.” Calderon v. Thompson, 523 U. S.

538, 556. Second, federal intervention imposes significant costs on

state criminal justice systems. See, e.g., Wainwright v. Sykes, 433

U. S. 72, 90. Pp. 6–8.

(2) In light of these costs, this Court recognizes that federal ha-

beas review is not “a substitute for ordinary error correction through

appeal,” but is an “extraordinary remedy” that guards only against

“extreme malfunctions in the state criminal justice systems.” Harring-

ton v. Richter, 562 U. S. 86, 102–103. To ensure that federal habeas

retains its narrow role, both Congress and federal habeas courts have

set out strict rules requiring prisoners to raise all of their federal

claims in state court before seeking federal relief. The Antiterrorism

and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) requires state pris-

oners to “exhaus[t] the remedies available in the courts of the State”

before seeking federal habeas relief. §2254(b)(1)(A). And the doctrine

of procedural default—“an important ‘corollary’ to the exhaustion re-

quirement,” Davila v. Davis, 582 U. S. ___, ___—generally prevents

federal courts from hearing any federal claim that was not presented

to the state courts “consistent with [the State’s] own procedural rules,”

Edwards v. Carpenter, 529 U. S. 446, 453. Together, exhaustion and

procedural default promote federal-state comity by affording States

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 3

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“an initial opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of

prisoners’ federal rights,” Duckworth v. Serrano, 454 U. S. 1, 3 (per cu-

riam), and by protecting against “the significant harm to the States

that results from the failure of federal courts to respect” state proce-

dural rules, Coleman, 501 U. S., at 750. Pp. 8–10.

(3) Nonetheless, a federal court is not required to automatically

deny unexhausted or procedurally defaulted claims. For instance,

when a claim is procedurally defaulted, a federal court can forgive the

default and adjudicate the claim if the prisoner provides an adequate

excuse. And if the state-court record for that defaulted claim is unde-

veloped, the prisoner must show that factual development in federal

court is appropriate. Pp. 10–13.

(i) Federal courts may excuse procedural default only if a pris-

oner “can demonstrate cause for the default and actual prejudice as a

result of the alleged violation of federal law.” Coleman, 501 U. S., at

750. With respect to cause, “attorney error cannot provide cause to

excuse a default” “in proceedings for which the Constitution does not

guarantee the assistance of counsel at all.” Davila, 582 U. S., at ___.

But in Martinez, this Court recognized a “narrow exception” to that

rule, holding that ineffective assistance of state postconviction counsel

may constitute “cause” to forgive procedural default of a trial-ineffec-

tive-assistance claim, but only if the State requires prisoners to raise

such claims for the first time during state collateral proceedings. 566

U. S., at 9. Pp. 10–11.

(ii) Excusing a prisoner’s failure to develop the state-court rec-

ord faces an even higher bar. Section 2254(e)(2) applies when a pris-

oner “has failed to develop the factual basis of a claim,” i.e., is “at fault”

for the undeveloped record in state court, Williams v. Taylor, 529 U. S.

420, 432. If a prisoner is “at fault,” a federal court may hold “an evi-

dentiary hearing on the claim” in only two limited scenarios not rele-

vant here. See §§2254(e)(2)(A)(i), (ii). The prisoner also must show

that further factfinding would demonstrate, by clear and convincing

evidence, that he is innocent of the crime charged. Pp. 12–13.

(b) Although respondents do not satisfy §2254(e)(2)’s narrow excep-

tions, the Court of Appeals forgave respondents’ failures to develop the

state-court record because, in its view, they each received ineffective

assistance of state postconviction counsel. The Court of Appeals erred.

Pp. 13–22.

(1) Respondents primarily argue that a prisoner is not “at fault”

for the undeveloped record if state postconviction counsel negligently

failed to develop the state record for a claim of ineffective assistance of

trial counsel. But under AEDPA and this Court’s precedents, state

postconviction counsel’s ineffective assistance in developing the state-

court record is attributed to the prisoner. Pp. 13–19.

4 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

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(i) A prisoner “bears the risk in federal habeas for all attorney

errors made in the course of the representation.” Coleman, 501 U. S.,

at 754. And, because there is no constitutional right to counsel in state

postconviction proceedings, a prisoner must ordinarily “bea[r] respon-

sibility” for all attorney errors during those proceedings, Williams, 529

U. S., at 432, including responsibility for counsel’s negligent failure to

develop the state postconviction record. This Court’s prior cases make

this point clear. See, e.g., Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes, 504 U. S. 1; Wil-

liams, 529 U. S. 420; Holland v. Jackson, 542 U. S. 649 (per curiam).

Thus, a prisoner is “at fault” even when state postconviction counsel is

negligent. Pp. 14–15.

(ii) Respondents propose extending Martinez so that ineffective

assistance of postconviction counsel can excuse a prisoner’s failure to

develop the state-court record under §2254(e)(2). But unlike judge-

made exceptions to procedural default, §2254(e)(2) is a statute, and

thus, this Court has no power to redefine when a prisoner “has failed

to develop the factual basis of a claim in State court proceedings.” Nor

is it plausible, as respondents contend, that Congress might have en-

acted §2254(e)(2) with the expectation that this Court would one day

open the door to allowing the ineffective assistance of state postconvic-

tion counsel to be cause to forgive procedural default. Finally, Mar-

tinez itself cuts against respondents’ proposed result. Martinez fore-

closed any extension of its holding beyond the “narrow exception” to

procedural default at issue in that case. See 566 U. S., at 9. That

assurance has bite only if the State can rely on the state-court record.

The cases here demonstrate the improper burden imposed on the

States when Martinez applies beyond its narrow scope, with the

sprawling evidentiary hearing in Jones’ case being particularly poign-

ant. Pp. 15–19.

(2) Respondents propose a second reading of §2254(e)(2) that sup-

posedly permits consideration of new evidence in their habeas cases.

First, they argue that because §2254(e)(2) bars only “an evidentiary

hearing on the claim,” a federal court may hold an evidentiary hearing

to determine whether there is cause and prejudice. Second, respond-

ents contend that the habeas court may then consider that new evi-

dence to evaluate the merits of the underlying ineffective-assistance

claim. By considering already admitted evidence, respondents reason,

the habeas court is not holding a “hearing” prohibited by §2254(e)(2).

But, in Holland, this Court explained that §2254(e)(2)’s “restrictions

apply a fortiori when a prisoner seeks relief based on new evidence

without an evidentiary hearing.” 542 U. S., at 653 (emphasis deleted).

Therefore, when a federal habeas court convenes an evidentiary hear-

ing for any purpose, or otherwise reviews any evidence for any pur-

pose, it may not consider that evidence on the merits of a negligent

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 5

Syllabus

prisoner’s defaulted claim unless the exceptions in §2254(e)(2) are sat-

isfied. Pp. 19–22.

937 F. 3d 1230 and 943 F. 3d 1211, reversed.

THOMAS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J.,

and ALITO, GORSUCH, KAVANAUGH, and BARRETT, JJ., joined. SO-

TOMAYOR, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BREYER and KAGAN, JJ.,

joined.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 1

Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the

preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to

notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-

ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that

corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 20–1009

_________________

DAVID SHINN, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT

OF CORRECTIONS, REHABILITATION AND

REENTRY, PETITIONER v. DAVID

MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

DAVID SHINN, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT

OF CORRECTIONS, REHABILITATION AND

REENTRY, ET AL., PETITIONERS v.

BARRY LEE JONES

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

[May 23, 2022]

JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

A federal habeas court generally may consider a state

prisoner’s federal claim only if he has first presented that

claim to the state court in accordance with state procedures.

When the prisoner has failed to do so, and the state court

would dismiss the claim on that basis, the claim is “proce-

durally defaulted.” To overcome procedural default, the

prisoner must demonstrate “cause” to excuse the proce-

dural defect and “actual prejudice” if the federal court were

to decline to hear his claim. Coleman v. Thompson, 501

U. S. 722, 750 (1991). In Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U. S. 1

(2012), this Court explained that ineffective assistance of

postconviction counsel is “cause” to forgive procedural de-

fault of an ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim, but

only if the State required the prisoner to raise that claim

2 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

for the first time during state postconviction proceedings.

Often, a prisoner with a defaulted claim will ask a federal

habeas court not only to consider his claim but also to per-

mit him to introduce new evidence to support it. Under the

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996

(AEDPA), the standard to expand the state-court record is

a stringent one. If a prisoner has “failed to develop the fac-

tual basis of a claim in State court proceedings,” a federal

court “shall not hold an evidentiary hearing on the claim”

unless the prisoner satisfies one of two narrow exceptions,

see 28 U. S. C. §2254(e)(2)(A), and demonstrates that the

new evidence will establish his innocence “by clear and con-

vincing evidence,” §2254(e)(2)(B). In all but these extraor-

dinary cases, AEDPA “bars evidentiary hearings in federal

habeas proceedings initiated by state prisoners.” McQuig-

gin v. Perkins, 569 U. S. 383, 395 (2013).

The question presented is whether the equitable rule an-

nounced in Martinez permits a federal court to dispense

with §2254(e)(2)’s narrow limits because a prisoner’s state

postconviction counsel negligently failed to develop the

state-court record. We conclude that it does not.

I

In this case, we address two petitions brought by the

State of Arizona. See Ramirez v. Ryan, 937 F. 3d 1230 (CA9

2019); Jones v. Shinn, 943 F. 3d 1211 (CA9 2019).

A

On May 25, 1989, David Ramirez fatally stabbed his girl-

friend, Mary Ann Gortarez, and her 15-year-old daughter,

Candie, in their home. 937 F. 3d, at 1234–1235; State v.

Ramirez, 178 Ariz. 116, 119, 121, 871 P. 2d 237, 240, 242

(1994). Ramirez stabbed Mary Ann 18 times in the neck

with a pair of scissors, and Candie 15 times in the neck with

a box cutter. Id., at 121, 871 P. 2d, at 242. Police also found

physical evidence that Ramirez had raped Candie, and

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 3

Opinion of the Court

Ramirez later admitted that he had sex with the child on

the night of the murders and four times before. Ibid. A jury

convicted Ramirez of two counts of premeditated first-

degree murder. Ibid. The trial court sentenced Ramirez to

death, ibid., and the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed on

direct review, id., at 132, 871 P. 2d, at 253.

Ramirez then filed his first petition for state postconvic-

tion relief. That petition raised myriad claims, but it did

not raise the one at issue here: that Ramirez’s trial counsel

provided ineffective assistance for “failing to conduct a com-

plete mitigation investigation” or “obtai[n] and present

available mitigation evidence at sentencing.” App. 402.

Ramirez did not raise this ineffective-assistance claim until

he subsequently filed a successive state habeas petition,

which the state court summarily denied as untimely under

Arizona law. See ibid.

Ramirez also petitioned the U. S. District Court for the

District of Arizona for a writ of habeas corpus under 28

U. S. C. §2254. As relevant here, the District Court held

that Ramirez had procedurally defaulted his ineffective-

assistance claim by failing to raise it before the Arizona

courts in a timely fashion. See App. 402–403. Ramirez re-

sponded that the District Court should forgive the proce-

dural default because his state postconviction counsel was

himself ineffective for failing to raise the trial-ineffective-

assistance claim and develop the facts to support it.

The District Court permitted Ramirez to file several dec-

larations and other evidence not presented to the state

court to support his request to excuse his procedural de-

fault. See 937 F. 3d, at 1238. Assessing the new evidence,

the District Court excused the procedural default but re-

jected Ramirez’s ineffective-assistance claim on the merits.

See id., at 1240.

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded. Like the Dis-

trict Court, it held that Ramirez’s state postconviction coun-

4 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

sel’s failure to raise and develop the trial-ineffective-assis-

tance claim was cause to forgive the procedural default. See

id., at 1247–1248. The Ninth Circuit also held that

Ramirez’s underlying trial-ineffective-assistance claim was

substantial, and that Ramirez therefore had suffered prej-

udice. See id., at 1243–1247. But, unlike the District

Court, the Court of Appeals declined to decide the merits of

Ramirez’s claim. The court remanded the case for further

factfinding because, in its view, Ramirez was “entitled to

evidentiary development to litigate the merits of his inef-

fective assistance of trial counsel claim.” Id., at 1248.

Arizona petitioned for rehearing en banc, arguing that

the Ninth Circuit’s remand for additional evidentiary de-

velopment violated 28 U. S. C. §2254(e)(2). The Ninth Cir-

cuit denied rehearing over an eight-judge dissent by Judge

Collins. See 971 F. 3d 1116 (2020).

B

On May 1, 1994, Barry Lee Jones repeatedly beat his girl-

friend’s 4-year-old daughter, Rachel Gray. See 943 F. 3d,

at 1215–1216; State v. Jones, 188 Ariz. 388, 391, 937 P. 2d

310, 313 (1997). One blow to Rachel’s abdomen ruptured

her small intestine. See id., at 391, 937 P. 2d, at 313. She

also sustained several injuries to her vagina and labia con-

sistent with sexual assault. Ibid. Early the next morning,

Jones drove Rachel to the hospital, where she was pro-

nounced dead on arrival. See ibid. Rachel died of peritoni-

tis—“an infection of the lining of the abdomen caused by a

ruptured intestine.” Ibid. A jury convicted Jones of sexual

assault, three counts of child abuse, and felony murder.

Ibid. The trial judge sentenced Jones to death, ibid., and

the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed on direct review, see

id., at 401, 937 P. 2d, at 323.

Jones then petitioned for state postconviction relief. He

alleged ineffective assistance by his trial counsel, but not

the specific trial-ineffective-assistance claim at issue here:

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 5

Opinion of the Court

that his counsel “fail[ed] to conduct sufficient trial investi-

gation.” 943 F. 3d, at 1218. The Arizona Supreme Court

summarily denied relief. See ibid.

Jones next filed a habeas petition in the U. S. District

Court for the District of Arizona. The District Court held

that Jones’ trial-ineffective-assistance claim was procedur-

ally defaulted, so Jones, like Ramirez, invoked his postcon-

viction counsel’s ineffective assistance as grounds to forgive

the default. Ibid. To bolster his case for cause and preju-

dice, Jones also moved to supplement the undeveloped

state-court record. Ibid. The District Court held a 7-day

evidentiary hearing with more than 10 witnesses and ulti-

mately decided to forgive Jones’ procedural default. See id.,

at 1219, 1225–1226. The court then relied on the new evi-

dence from the cause-and-prejudice hearing to hold, on the

merits, that Jones’ trial counsel had provided ineffective as-

sistance. See id., at 1219.

Arizona appealed, arguing that §2254(e)(2) did not per-

mit the evidentiary hearing. The Ninth Circuit affirmed,

holding that §2254(e)(2) did not apply because Jones’ state

postconviction counsel was ineffective for failing to develop

the state-court record for Jones’ trial-ineffective-assistance

claim. See id., at 1220–1222.

As in Ramirez, Arizona petitioned for rehearing en banc.

And, also as in Ramirez, the Ninth Circuit denied Arizona’s

petition over the dissent of Judge Collins, joined by seven

other judges. Jones v. Shinn, 971 F. 3d 1133 (2020).

C

As noted above, Arizona petitioned for a writ of certiorari

in both Ramirez and Jones. The State maintains that 28

U. S. C. §2254(e)(2) does not permit a federal court to order

evidentiary development simply because postconviction

counsel is alleged to have negligently failed to develop the

state-court record. Respondents do not dispute, and there-

fore concede, that their habeas petitions fail on the state-

6 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

court record alone. We granted certiorari, 593 U. S. ___

(2021).*

II

A state prisoner may request that a federal court order

his release by petitioning for a writ of habeas corpus. See

28 U. S. C. §2254. The writ may issue “only on the ground

that [the prisoner] is in custody in violation of the Consti-

tution or laws or treaties of the United States.” §2254(a).

To respect our system of dual sovereignty, see Printz v.

United States, 521 U. S. 898, 918 (1997), the availability of

habeas relief is narrowly circumscribed, see Brown v. Dav-

enport, 596 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2022) (slip op., at 11–14).

Among other restrictions, only rarely may a federal habeas

court hear a claim or consider evidence that a prisoner did

not previously present to the state courts in compliance

with state procedural rules.

A

“From the beginning of our country, criminal law enforce-

ment has been primarily a responsibility of the States.”

Kansas v. Garcia, 589 U. S. ___, ___ (2020) (slip op., at 19).

The power to convict and punish criminals lies at the heart

of the States’ “residuary and inviolable sovereignty.” The

Federalist No. 39, p. 245 (C. Rossiter ed. 1961) (J. Madison);

——————

*Ramirez alleges that Arizona forfeited any §2254(e)(2) argument

in his case because it did not object to some evidentiary development in

the District Court or before the Ninth Circuit panel. But Arizona did

object to further factfinding before the Ninth Circuit panel, see Respond-

ents-Appellees’ Answering Brief in Ramirez v. Ryan, No. 10–99023

(CA9), ECF Doc. 37, p. 58, and, in any event, the Ninth Circuit passed

upon §2254(e)(2) when it ordered additional factfinding on remand, see

United States v. Williams, 504 U. S. 36, 41 (1992). Further, because we

have discretion to forgive any forfeiture, and because “our deciding the

matter now will reduce the likelihood of further litigation” in a 30-year-

old murder case, Polar Tankers, Inc. v. City of Valdez, 557 U. S. 1, 14

(2009) (plurality opinion), we choose to forgive the State’s forfeiture be-

fore the District Court.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 7

Opinion of the Court

see also Gamble v. United States, 587 U. S. ___, ___–___

(2019) (slip op., at 9–10). Thus, “[t]he States possess pri-

mary authority for defining and enforcing the criminal

law,” Engle v. Isaac, 456 U. S. 107, 128 (1982), and for ad-

judicating “constitutional challenges to state convictions,”

Harrington v. Richter, 562 U. S. 86, 103 (2011).

Because federal habeas review overrides the States’ core

power to enforce criminal law, it “intrudes on state sover-

eignty to a degree matched by few exercises of federal judi-

cial authority.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted).

That intrusion “imposes special costs on our federal sys-

tem.” Engle, 456 U. S., at 128; see also Kuhlmann v. Wil-

son, 477 U. S. 436, 453, n. 16 (1986); Davila v. Davis, 582

U. S. ___, ___ (2017) (slip op., at 15). Here, two of those

costs are particularly relevant.

First, a federal order to retry or release a state prisoner

overrides the State’s sovereign power to enforce “societal

norms through criminal law.” Calderon v. Thompson, 523

U. S. 538, 556 (1998) (internal quotation marks omitted).

That is so because habeas relief “frequently cost[s] society

the right to punish admitted offenders.” Engle, 456 U. S.,

at 127; see also Edwards v. Vannoy, 593 U. S. ___, ___

(2021) (slip op., at 6) (“When previously convicted perpetra-

tors of violent crimes go free merely because the evidence

needed to conduct a retrial has become stale or is no longer

available, the public suffers, as do the victims”). “Only with

real finality can the victims of crime move forward knowing

the moral judgment will be carried out.” Calderon, 523

U. S., at 556. “To unsettle these expectations is to inflict a

profound injury to the powerful and legitimate interest in

punishing the guilty, an interest shared by the State and

the victims of crime alike.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks

and citation omitted).

Second, federal intervention imposes significant costs on

state criminal justice systems. It “disturbs the State’s sig-

8 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

nificant interest in repose for concluded litigation,” Har-

rington, 562 U. S., at 103 (internal quotation marks omit-

ted), and undermines the States’ investment in their crimi-

nal trials. If the state trial is merely a “ ‘tryout on the road’ ”

to federal habeas relief, that “detract[s] from the perception

of the trial of a criminal case in state court as a decisive and

portentous event.” Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U. S. 72, 90

(1977).

B

In light of these significant costs, we have recognized that

federal habeas review cannot serve as “a substitute for or-

dinary error correction through appeal.” Harrington, 562

U. S., at 102–103. The writ of habeas corpus is an “extraor-

dinary remedy” that guards only against “extreme malfunc-

tions in the state criminal justice systems.” Id., at 102 (in-

ternal quotation marks omitted); see also Brecht v.

Abrahamson, 507 U. S. 619, 633–634 (1993). To ensure

that federal habeas corpus retains its narrow role, AEDPA

imposes several limits on habeas relief, and we have pre-

scribed several more. See, e.g., Brown, 596 U. S., at ___–

___ (slip op., at 11–13). And even if a prisoner overcomes

all of these limits, he is never entitled to habeas relief. He

must still “persuade a federal habeas court that law and

justice require [it].” Id., at ___ (slip op., at 11) (internal quo-

tation marks omitted).

As relevant here, both Congress and federal habeas

courts have set out strict rules requiring prisoners to raise

all of their federal claims in state court before seeking fed-

eral relief. First, AEDPA requires state prisoners to “ex-

haus[t] the remedies available in the courts of the State”

before seeking federal habeas relief. 28 U. S. C.

§2254(b)(1)(A). Ordinarily, a state prisoner satisfies this

exhaustion requirement by raising his federal claim before

the state courts in accordance with state procedures. See

O’Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U. S. 838, 848 (1999). If he does

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 9

Opinion of the Court

so, a federal habeas court may hear his claim, but its review

is highly circumscribed. In particular, the federal court

may review the claim based solely on the state-court record,

see Cullen v. Pinholster, 563 U. S. 170, 180 (2011), and the

prisoner must demonstrate that, under this Court’s prece-

dents, no “fairminded juris[t]” could have reached the same

judgment as the state court, Harrington, 562 U. S., at 102;

see §2254(d).

State prisoners, however, often fail to raise their federal

claims in compliance with state procedures, or even raise

those claims in state court at all. If a state court would dis-

miss these claims for their procedural failures, such claims

are technically exhausted because, in the habeas context,

“state-court remedies are . . . ‘exhausted’ when they are no

longer available, regardless of the reason for their unavail-

ability.” Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U. S. 81, 92–93 (2006). But

to allow a state prisoner simply to ignore state procedure

on the way to federal court would defeat the evident goal of

the exhaustion rule. See Coleman, 501 U. S., at 732. Thus,

federal habeas courts must apply “an important ‘corollary’

to the exhaustion requirement”: the doctrine of procedural

default. Davila, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 4). Under that

doctrine, federal courts generally decline to hear any fed-

eral claim that was not presented to the state courts “con-

sistent with [the State’s] own procedural rules.” Edwards

v. Carpenter, 529 U. S. 446, 453 (2000).

Together, exhaustion and procedural default promote

federal-state comity. Exhaustion affords States “an initial

opportunity to pass upon and correct alleged violations of

prisoners’ federal rights,” Duckworth v. Serrano, 454 U. S.

1, 3 (1981) (per curiam), and procedural default protects

against “the significant harm to the States that results from

the failure of federal courts to respect” state procedural

rules, Coleman, 501 U. S., at 750. Ultimately, “it would be

unseemly in our dual system of government for a federal

10 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

district court to upset a state court conviction without [giv-

ing] an opportunity to the state courts to correct a constitu-

tional violation,” Darr v. Burford, 339 U. S. 200, 204 (1950),

and to do so consistent with their own procedures, see Ed-

wards, 529 U. S., at 452–453.

C

Despite the many benefits of exhaustion and procedural

default, and the substantial costs when those doctrines are

not enforced, we have held that a federal court is not re-

quired to automatically deny unexhausted or procedurally

defaulted claims. When a claim is unexhausted, the pris-

oner might have an opportunity to return to state court to

adjudicate the claim. See, e.g., Rose v. Lundy, 455 U. S.

509, 520 (1982). When a claim is procedurally defaulted, a

federal court can forgive the default and adjudicate the

claim if the prisoner provides an adequate excuse. Like-

wise, if the state-court record for that defaulted claim is un-

developed, the prisoner must show that factual develop-

ment in federal court is appropriate.

1

“Out of respect for finality, comity, and the orderly ad-

ministration of justice,” Dretke v. Haley, 541 U. S. 386, 388

(2004), federal courts may excuse procedural default only if

a prisoner “can demonstrate cause for the default and ac-

tual prejudice as a result of the alleged violation of federal

law,” Coleman, 501 U. S., at 750. To establish cause, the

prisoner must “show that some objective factor external to

the defense impeded counsel’s efforts to comply with the

State’s procedural rule.” Murray v. Carrier, 477 U. S. 478,

488 (1986). Then, to establish prejudice, the prisoner must

show not merely a substantial federal claim, such that “ ‘the

errors at . . . trial created a possibility of prejudice,” but ra-

ther that the constitutional violation “worked to his actual

and substantial disadvantage.’ ” Id., at 494 (quoting United

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 11

Opinion of the Court

States v. Frady, 456 U. S. 152, 170 (1982)).

With respect to cause, “[a]ttorney ignorance or inadvert-

ence” cannot excuse procedural default. Coleman, 501

U. S., at 753. “[T]he attorney is the petitioner’s agent when

acting, or failing to act, in furtherance of the litigation, and

the petitioner must bear the risk of attorney error.” Ibid.

(internal quotation marks omitted). That said, “if the pro-

cedural default is the result of ineffective assistance of

counsel, the Sixth Amendment itself requires that respon-

sibility for the default be imputed to the State.” Murray,

477 U. S., at 488. That is not because a constitutional error

“is so bad that the lawyer ceases to be an agent” of the pris-

oner, but rather because a violation of the right to counsel

“must be seen as an external factor” to the prisoner’s de-

fense. Coleman, 501 U. S., at 754 (internal quotation marks

omitted). “It follows, then, that in proceedings for which

the Constitution does not guarantee the assistance of coun-

sel at all, attorney error cannot provide cause to excuse a

default.” Davila, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 6).

In Martinez, this Court recognized a “narrow exception”

to the rule that attorney error cannot establish cause to ex-

cuse a procedural default unless it violates the Constitu-

tion. 566 U. S., at 9. There, the Court held that ineffective

assistance of state postconviction counsel may constitute

“cause” to forgive procedural default of a trial-ineffective-

assistance claim, but only if the State requires prisoners to

raise such claims for the first time during state collateral

proceedings. See ibid. One year later, in Trevino v. Thaler,

569 U. S. 413 (2013), this Court held that this “narrow ex-

ception” applies if the State’s judicial system effectively

forecloses direct review of trial-ineffective-assistance

claims. Id., at 428. Otherwise, attorney error where there

is no right to counsel remains insufficient to show cause.

Martinez, 566 U. S., at 16.

12 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

2

There is an even higher bar for excusing a prisoner’s fail-

ure to develop the state-court record. Shortly before

AEDPA, we held that a prisoner who “negligently failed” to

develop the state-court record must satisfy Coleman’s

cause-and-prejudice standard before a federal court can

hold an evidentiary hearing. Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes, 504

U. S. 1, 9 (1992). In Keeney, we explained that “little [could]

be said for holding a habeas petitioner to one standard for

failing to bring a claim in state court and excusing the peti-

tioner under another, lower standard for failing to develop

the factual basis of that claim in the same forum.” Id., at

10. And, consistent with Coleman, we held that evidentiary

development would be inappropriate “where the cause as-

serted is attorney error.” 504 U. S., at 11, n. 5.

Four years later, Congress enacted AEDPA and replaced

Keeney’s cause-and-prejudice standard for evidentiary de-

velopment with the even “more stringent requirements”

now codified at 28 U. S. C. §2254(e)(2). Williams v. Taylor,

529 U. S. 420, 433 (2000) (Michael Williams). Section

2254(e)(2) provides that, if a prisoner “has failed to develop

the factual basis of a claim in State court proceedings,” a

federal court may hold “an evidentiary hearing on the

claim” in only two limited scenarios. Either the claim must

rely on (1) a “new” and “previously unavailable” “rule of

constitutional law” made retroactively applicable by this

Court, or (2) “a factual predicate that could not have been

previously discovered through the exercise of due dili-

gence.” §§2254(e)(2)(A)(i), (ii). If a prisoner can satisfy ei-

ther of these exceptions, he also must show that further

factfinding would demonstrate, “by clear and convincing ev-

idence,” that “no reasonable factfinder” would have con-

victed him of the crime charged. §2254(e)(2)(B). Finally,

even if all of these requirements are satisfied, a federal ha-

beas court still is not required to hold a hearing or take any

evidence. Like the decision to grant habeas relief itself, the

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 13

Opinion of the Court

decision to permit new evidence must be informed by prin-

ciples of comity and finality that govern every federal ha-

beas case. Cf. Brown, 596 U. S., at ___–___ (slip op., at 13–

14).

Even though AEDPA largely displaced Keeney,

§2254(e)(2) retained “one aspect of Keeney’s holding.” Mi-

chael Williams, 529 U. S., at 433. Namely, §2254(e)(2) ap-

plies only when a prisoner “has failed to develop the factual

basis of a claim.” We interpret “fail,” consistent with

Keeney, to mean that the prisoner must be “at fault” for the

undeveloped record in state court. 529 U. S., at 432. A pris-

oner is “at fault” if he “bears responsibility for the failure”

to develop the record. Ibid.

III

Respondents concede that they do not satisfy

§2254(e)(2)’s narrow exceptions. Nonetheless, the Court of

Appeals forgave respondents’ failures to develop the state-

court record because, in its view, they each received ineffec-

tive assistance of state postconviction counsel. We now hold

that, under §2254(e)(2), a federal habeas court may not con-

duct an evidentiary hearing or otherwise consider evidence

beyond the state-court record based on ineffective assis-

tance of state postconviction counsel.

A

Respondents’ primary claim is that a prisoner is not “at

fault,” Michael Williams, 529 U. S., at 432, and therefore

has not “failed to develop the factual basis of a claim in

State court proceedings,” §2254(e)(2), if state postconviction

counsel negligently failed to develop the state record for a

claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. But under

AEDPA and our precedents, state postconviction counsel’s

ineffective assistance in developing the state-court record is

attributed to the prisoner.

14 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

1

As stated above, a prisoner “bears the risk in federal ha-

beas for all attorney errors made in the course of the repre-

sentation,” Coleman, 501 U. S., at 754, unless counsel pro-

vides “constitutionally ineffective” assistance, Murray, 477

U. S., at 488. And, because there is no constitutional right

to counsel in state postconviction proceedings, see Davila,

582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 6), a prisoner ordinarily must

“bea[r] responsibility” for all attorney errors during those

proceedings, Michael Williams, 529 U. S., at 432. Among

those errors, a state prisoner is responsible for counsel’s

negligent failure to develop the state postconviction record.

Both before and after AEDPA, our prior cases have made

this point clear. First, in Keeney, “material facts had not

been adequately developed in the state postconviction

court, apparently due to the negligence of postconviction

counsel.” 504 U. S., at 4 (citation omitted). We required the

prisoner to demonstrate cause and prejudice to forgive post-

conviction counsel’s deficient performance, see id., at 11,

and recognized that counsel’s negligence, on its own, was

not a sufficient cause, see id., at 10, n. 5.

Second, in Michael Williams, we confirmed that “the

opening clause of §2254(e)(2) codifies Keeney’s threshold

standard of diligence, so that prisoners who would have had

to satisfy Keeney’s [cause-and-prejudice] test . . . are now

controlled by §2254(e)(2).” 529 U. S., at 434. In other

words, because Keeney held a prisoner responsible for state

postconviction counsel’s negligent failure to develop the

state-court record, the same rule applied under §2254(e)(2).

For that reason, “a failure to develop the factual basis of a

claim,” as §2254(e)(2) requires, “is not established unless

there is lack of diligence, or some greater fault, attributable

to the prisoner or the prisoner’s counsel.” 529 U. S., at 432

(emphasis added). We then applied that rule and held that

state postconviction counsel’s “failure to investigate . . . in

anything but a cursory manner trigger[ed] the opening

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 15

Opinion of the Court

clause of §2254(e)(2).” Id., at 439–440.

Third, in Holland v. Jackson, 542 U. S. 649 (2004) (per

curiam), we again held a prisoner responsible for state post-

conviction counsel’s negligent failure to develop the state-

court record. Seven years after the prisoner’s conviction,

and after he had already been denied state postconviction

relief, the prisoner found a new witness to provide impeach-

ment testimony. See id., at 650–651. The prisoner claimed

that he discovered the witness so late because “state post-

conviction counsel did not heed his pleas for assistance.”

Id., at 653. Citing Coleman and Michael Williams, we re-

jected the prisoner’s claim. “Attorney negligence,” we held,

“is chargeable to the client and precludes relief unless the

conditions of §2254(e)(2) are satisfied.” 542 U. S., at 653.

In sum, under §2254(e)(2), a prisoner is “at fault” even

when state postconviction counsel is negligent. In such a

case, a federal court may order an evidentiary hearing or

otherwise expand the state-court record only if the prisoner

can satisfy §2254(e)(2)’s stringent requirements.

2

Respondents dispute none of this. Instead, they rely al-

most exclusively on Martinez’s holding that ineffective as-

sistance of postconviction counsel can be “cause” to forgive

procedural default of a trial-ineffective-assistance claim if a

State forecloses direct review of that claim, as Arizona con-

cededly does. See 566 U. S., at 9. Respondents contend that

where, per Martinez, a prisoner is not responsible for state

postconviction counsel’s failure to raise a claim, it makes

little sense to hold the prisoner responsible for the failure

to develop that claim. Thus, respondents propose extending

Martinez so that ineffective assistance of postconviction

counsel can excuse a prisoner’s failure to develop the state-

court record under §2254(e)(2).

Congress foreclosed respondents’ proposed expansion of

Martinez when it passed AEDPA. Martinez decided that,

16 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

in the exercise of our “equitable judgment” and “discretion,”

it was appropriate to modify “[t]he rules for when a prisoner

may establish cause to excuse a procedural default.” Id., at

13. Such “exceptions” to procedural default “are judge-

made rules” that we may modify “only when necessary.”

Dretke, 541 U. S., at 394. Here, however, §2254(e)(2) is a

statute that we have no authority to amend. “Where Con-

gress has erected a constitutionally valid barrier to habeas

relief, a court cannot decline to give it effect.” McQuiggin,

569 U. S., at 402 (Scalia, J., dissenting); see also Ex parte

Bollman, 4 Cranch 75, 94 (1807) (Marshall, C. J., for the

Court). For example, in McQuiggin, we explained that we

have no power to layer a miscarriage-of-justice or actual-

innocence exception on top of the narrow limitations al-

ready included in §2254(e)(2). See 569 U. S., at 395–396

(majority opinion).

The same follows here. We have no power to redefine

when a prisoner “has failed to develop the factual basis of a

claim in State court proceedings.” §2254(e)(2). Before

AEDPA, Keeney held that “attorney error” during state

postconviction proceedings was not cause to excuse an un-

developed state-court record. 504 U. S., at 11, n. 5. And, in

Michael Williams, we acknowledged that §2254(e)(2)

“raised the bar Keeney imposed on prisoners who were not

diligent in state-court proceedings,” 529 U. S., at 433, while

reaffirming that prisoners are responsible for attorney er-

ror, see id., at 432. Yet here, respondents claim that attor-

ney error alone permits a federal court to expand the fed-

eral habeas record. That result makes factfinding more

readily available than Keeney envisioned pre-AEDPA and

ignores Michael Williams’ admonition that “[c]ounsel’s fail-

ure” to perform as a “diligent attorney” “triggers the open-

ing clause of §2254(e)(2).” 529 U. S., at 439–440. We simply

cannot square respondents’ proposed result with AEDPA or

our precedents.

Respondents propose that Congress may have actually

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 17

Opinion of the Court

invited their judicial update. According to respondents,

Martinez explained that Coleman left open whether ineffec-

tive assistance of state postconviction counsel might one

day be cause to forgive procedural default, at least in an

“initial-review collateral proceeding,” Martinez, 566 U. S.,

at 5, “where state collateral review is the first place a pris-

oner can present a challenge to his conviction,” Coleman,

501 U. S., at 755. Respondents contend that Congress

might have enacted §2254(e)(2) with the expectation that

this Court one day would open that door.

We do not agree. First, “[g]iven our frequent recognition

that AEDPA limited rather than expanded the availability

of habeas relief . . . it is implausible that, without saying

so,” Fry v. Pliler, 551 U. S. 112, 119 (2007), Congress in-

tended this Court to liberalize the availability of habeas re-

lief generally, or access to federal factfinding specifically.

Second, in Coleman, we “reiterate[d] that counsel’s ineffec-

tiveness will constitute cause only if it is an independent

constitutional violation,” and surmised that a hypothetical

constitutional right to initial-review postconviction counsel

could give rise to a corresponding claim for cause. 501 U. S.,

at 755; see also Martinez, 566 U. S., at 8–9. Since then,

however, we have repeatedly reaffirmed that there is no

constitutional right to counsel in state postconviction pro-

ceedings. See, e.g., Davila, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 6).

We also reject respondents’ equitable rewrite of

§2254(e)(2) because it lacks any principled limit. This

Court’s holding in Martinez addressed only one kind of

claim: ineffective assistance of trial counsel. See 566 U. S.,

at 9. We limited our holding in that way to reflect our “eq-

uitable judgment” that trial-ineffective-assistance claims

are uniquely important. Id., at 12–13. Respondents pro-

pose that we similarly should permit factual development

under §2254(e)(2) only for trial-ineffective-assistance

claims. But §2254(e)(2) applies whenever any state pris-

oner “failed to develop the factual basis of a claim,”

18 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

§2254(e)(2) (emphasis added), without limitation to any

specific claim. There would be no reason to limit respond-

ents’ reconstruction of §2254(e)(2) as they propose. Unlike

for procedural default, we lack equitable authority to

amend a statute to address only a subset of claims. Thus,

if a prisoner were not “at fault” under §2254(e)(2) simply

because postconviction counsel provided ineffective assis-

tance, Michael Williams, 529 U. S., at 432, the prisoner’s

blamelessness necessarily would extend to any claim that

postconviction counsel negligently failed to develop. Not

even Martinez sweeps that broadly.

Finally, setting aside that we lack authority to amend

§2254(e)(2)’s clear text, Martinez itself cuts against re-

spondents’ proposed result. Martinez was “unusually ex-

plicit about the narrowness of our decision.” Trevino, 569

U. S., at 431 (ROBERTS, C. J., dissenting). The Court left no

doubt that “[t]he rule of Coleman governs in all but the lim-

ited circumstances recognized here.” Martinez, 566 U. S.,

at 16 (emphasis added). “This aggressively limiting lan-

guage was not simply a customary nod to the truism that

we decide only the case before us.” Trevino, 569 U. S., at

432 (ROBERTS, C. J., dissenting) (internal quotation marks

omitted). “It was instead an important part” of the Court’s

holding. Ibid. In short, Martinez foreclosed any extension

of its holding beyond the “narrow exception” to procedural

default at issue in that case. 566 U. S., at 9.

To be sure, Martinez recognized that state prisoners often

need “evidence outside the trial record” to support their

trial-ineffective-assistance claims. Id., at 13. But Martinez

did not prescribe largely unbounded access to new evidence

whenever postconviction counsel is ineffective, as respond-

ents propose. Rather, Martinez recognized our overarching

responsibility “to ensure that state-court judgments are ac-

corded the finality and respect necessary to preserve the in-

tegrity of legal proceedings within our system of federal-

ism.” Id., at 9. In particular, the Court explained that its

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 19

Opinion of the Court

“holding . . . ought not to put a significant strain on state

resources,” because a State “faced with the question

whether there is cause for an apparent default . . . may an-

swer” that the defaulted claim “is wholly without factual

support.” Id., at 15–16. That assurance has bite only if the

State can rely on the state-court record. Otherwise, “federal

habeas courts would routinely be required to hold eviden-

tiary hearings to determine” whether state postconviction

counsel’s factfinding fell short. Murray, 477 U. S., at 487.

The cases under review demonstrate the improper bur-

den imposed on the States when Martinez applies beyond

its narrow scope. The sprawling evidentiary hearing in

Jones is particularly poignant. Ostensibly to assess cause

and prejudice under Martinez, the District Court ordered a

7-day hearing that included testimony from no fewer than

10 witnesses, including defense trial counsel, defense post-

conviction counsel, the lead investigating detective, three

forensic pathologists, an emergency medicine and trauma

specialist, a biomechanics and functional human anatomy

expert, and a crime scene and bloodstain pattern analyst.

See 943 F. 3d, at 1219, 1225–1226. Of these witnesses, only

one of the forensic pathologists and the lead detective testi-

fied at the original trial. See id., at 1223–1225. The re-

mainder testified on virtually every disputed issue in the

case, including the timing of Rachel Gray’s injuries and her

cause of death. See id., at 1226–1228. This wholesale re-

litigation of Jones’ guilt is plainly not what Martinez envi-

sioned.

B

Martinez aside, respondents propose a second reading of

§2254(e)(2) that supposedly permits consideration of new

evidence in their habeas cases. Their interpretation pro-

ceeds in two steps. First, respondents argue that because

§2254(e)(2) bars only “an evidentiary hearing on the claim,”

20 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

a federal court may hold an evidentiary hearing to deter-

mine whether there is cause and prejudice. In respondents’

view, a so-called “Martinez hearing” is not a “hearing on the

claim.” §2254(e)(2) (emphasis added). Second, with that

evidence admitted for cause and prejudice, respondents

contend that the habeas court may then consider the new

evidence to evaluate the merits of the underlying ineffective-

assistance claim. By considering already admitted evi-

dence, respondents reason, the habeas court is not holding

a “hearing” that §2254(e)(2) otherwise would prohibit. Ibid.

There are good reasons to doubt respondents’ first point,

but we need not address it because our precedent squarely

forecloses the second. In Holland, we explained that

§2254(e)(2)’s “restrictions apply a fortiori when a prisoner

seeks relief based on new evidence without an evidentiary

hearing.” 542 U. S., at 653 (emphasis deleted). The basis

for our decision was obvious: A contrary reading would have

countenanced an end-run around the statute. Federal ha-

beas courts could have accepted any new evidence so long

as they avoided labeling their intake of the evidence as a

“hearing.” Therefore, when a federal habeas court convenes

an evidentiary hearing for any purpose, or otherwise ad-

mits or reviews new evidence for any purpose, it may not

consider that evidence on the merits of a negligent pris-

oner’s defaulted claim unless the exceptions in §2254(e)(2)

are satisfied.

Respondents all but concede that their argument

amounts to the same kind of evasion of §2254(e)(2) that we

rejected in Holland. They nonetheless object that Holland

renders many Martinez hearings a nullity, because there is

no point in developing a record for cause and prejudice if a

federal court cannot later consider that evidence on the

merits. While we agree that any such Martinez hearing

would serve no purpose, that is a reason to dispense with

Martinez hearings altogether, not to set §2254(e)(2) aside.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 21

Opinion of the Court

Thus, if that provision applies and the prisoner cannot sat-

isfy its “stringent requirements,” Michael Williams, 529

U. S., at 433, a federal court may not hold an evidentiary

hearing—or otherwise consider new evidence—to assess

cause and prejudice under Martinez.

This follows from our decision in Schriro v. Landrigan,

550 U. S. 465 (2007). There, we held that a federal court,

“[i]n deciding whether to grant an evidentiary hearing, . . .

must consider whether such a hearing could enable an ap-

plicant to prove . . . factual allegations [that] would entitle

[him] to federal habeas relief.” Id., at 474. “This approach

makes eminent sense,” for if “district courts held eviden-

tiary hearings without first asking whether the evidence

the petitioner seeks to present would satisfy AEDPA’s de-

manding standards, they would needlessly prolong federal

habeas proceedings.” Cullen, 563 U. S., at 208–209

(SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting). Here, holding a Martinez

hearing when the prisoner cannot “satisfy AEDPA’s de-

manding standards” in §2254(e)(2) would “prolong federal

habeas proceedings” with no purpose. 563 U. S., at 209

(SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting). And because a federal habeas

court may never “needlessly prolong” a habeas case, ibid.,

particularly given the “essential” need to promote the final-

ity of state convictions, Calderon, 523 U. S., at 555, a Mar-

tinez hearing is improper if the newly developed evidence

never would “entitle [the prisoner] to federal habeas relief,”

Schriro, 550 U. S., at 474.

C

Ultimately, respondents’ proposed expansion of factfind-

ing in federal court, whether by Martinez or other means,

conflicts with any appropriately limited federal habeas re-

view. In our dual-sovereign system, federal courts must af-

ford unwavering respect to the centrality “of the trial of a

criminal case in state court.” Wainwright, 433 U. S., at 90.

That is the moment at which “[s]ociety’s resources have

22 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

Opinion of the Court

been concentrated . . . in order to decide, within the limits

of human fallibility, the question of guilt or innocence of one

of its citizens.” Ibid.; see also Herrera v. Collins, 506 U. S.

390, 416 (1993); Davila, 582 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 8).

Such intervention is also an affront to the State and its cit-

izens who returned a verdict of guilt after considering the

evidence before them. Federal courts, years later, lack the

competence and authority to relitigate a State’s criminal

case.

The dissent contends that we “overstat[e] the harm to

States that would result from allowing” prisoners to develop

evidence outside §2254(e)(2)’s narrow exceptions. Post, at

17. Not so. Serial relitigation of final convictions under-

mines the finality that “is essential to both the retributive

and deterrent functions of criminal law.” Calderon, 523

U. S., at 555; see also Engle, 456 U. S., at 126–127, and

n. 32. Further, broadly available habeas relief encourages

prisoners to “ ‘sandba[g]’ ” state courts by “select[ing] a few

promising claims for airing” on state postconviction review,

“while reserving others for federal habeas review” should

state proceedings come up short. Murray, 477 U. S., at 492;

see also Wainwright, 433 U. S., at 89. State prisoners al-

ready have a strong incentive to save claims for federal ha-

beas proceedings in order to avoid the highly deferential

standard of review that applies to claims properly raised in

state court. See §2254(d); Harrington, 562 U. S., at 105.

Permitting federal factfinding would encourage yet more

federal litigation of defaulted claims.

* * *

Because we have no warrant to impose any factfinding

beyond §2254(e)(2)’s narrow exceptions to AEDPA’s “gen-

era[l] ba[r on] evidentiary hearings,” McQuiggin, 569 U. S.,

at 395, we reverse the judgments of the Court of Appeals.

It is so ordered.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 1

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 20–1009

_________________

DAVID SHINN, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT

OF CORRECTIONS, REHABILITATION AND

REENTRY, PETITIONER v. DAVID

MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

DAVID SHINN, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT

OF CORRECTIONS, REHABILITATION AND

REENTRY, ET AL., PETITIONERS v.

BARRY LEE JONES

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

[May 23, 2022]

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE BREYER and

JUSTICE KAGAN join, dissenting.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees criminal defendants

the right to the effective assistance of counsel at trial. This

Court has recognized that right as “a bedrock principle”

that constitutes the very “foundation for our adversary sys-

tem” of criminal justice. Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U. S. 1, 12

(2012). Today, however, the Court hamstrings the federal

courts’ authority to safeguard that right. The Court’s deci-

sion will leave many people who were convicted in violation

of the Sixth Amendment to face incarceration or even exe-

cution without any meaningful chance to vindicate their

right to counsel.

In reaching its decision, the Court all but overrules two

recent precedents that recognized a critical exception to the

general rule that federal courts may not consider claims on

habeas review that were not raised in state court. Just 10

years ago, the Court held that a federal court may consider

2 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

a habeas petitioner’s substantial claim of ineffective assis-

tance of trial counsel (a “trial-ineffectiveness” claim), even

if not presented in state court, if the State barred the peti-

tioner from asserting that claim until state postconviction

proceedings, and the petitioner’s counsel in those proceed-

ings was also ineffective. See id., at 17; see also Trevino v.

Thaler, 569 U. S. 413, 429 (2013). Martinez and Trevino

establish that such a petitioner is not at fault for any failure

to bring a trial-ineffectiveness claim in state court. Despite

these precedents, the Court today holds that such a peti-

tioner is nonetheless at fault for the ineffective assistance

of postconviction counsel in developing the evidence of trial

ineffectiveness in state court. The Court instead holds that

a petitioner in these circumstances, having received ineffec-

tive assistance of trial and postconviction counsel, is barred

from developing such evidence in federal court.

This decision is perverse. It is illogical: It makes no sense

to excuse a habeas petitioner’s counsel’s failure to raise a

claim altogether because of ineffective assistance in post-

conviction proceedings, as Martinez and Trevino did, but to

fault the same petitioner for that postconviction counsel’s

failure to develop evidence in support of the trial-ineffec-

tiveness claim. In so doing, the Court guts Martinez’s and

Trevino’s core reasoning. The Court also arrogates power

from Congress: The Court’s analysis improperly reconfig-

ures the balance Congress struck in the Antiterrorism and

Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) between state

interests and individual constitutional rights.

By the Court’s telling, its holding (however implausible)

is compelled by statute. Make no mistake. Neither AEDPA

nor this Court’s precedents require this result. I respect-

fully dissent.

I

The majority sets forth the gruesome nature of the mur-

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 3

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

ders with which respondents were charged. Our Constitu-

tion insists, however, that no matter how heinous the crime,

any conviction must be secured respecting all constitutional

protections. The history of respondents’ trials and their

state postconviction proceedings illustrates the breakdown

in the adversarial system caused by ineffective assistance

of counsel, a violation of the Sixth Amendment.

A

Respondent Barry Lee Jones was charged with the mur-

der of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter, Rachel Gray.

The State argued that Rachel died as a result of an injury

she sustained while in Jones’ care. Jones’ trial counsel

failed to undertake even a cursory investigation and, as a

result, did not uncover readily available medical evidence

that could have shown that Rachel sustained her injuries

when she was not in Jones’ care. Having heard none of this

evidence, the jury convicted Jones and the trial judge sen-

tenced him to death.

Jones filed for postconviction review in Arizona state

court. Under Arizona law, Jones was not permitted to ar-

gue on direct appeal that his trial counsel rendered consti-

tutionally ineffective assistance; accordingly, state postcon-

viction review was his first opportunity to raise his trial-

ineffectiveness claim. See State v. Spreitz, 202 Ariz. 1, 3,

39 P. 3d 525, 527 (2002). At this stage, however, Jones was

met with another egregious failure of counsel. Arizona

state law sets minimum qualifications that attorneys must

meet to be appointed in capital cases like Jones’, but the

Arizona Supreme Court waived those requirements in

Jones’ case, and the state court appointed postconviction

counsel who lacked those qualifications. See Jones v. Ryan,

327 F. Supp. 3d 1157, 1214 (Ariz. 2018) (citing Ariz. Rev.

Stat. Ann. §13–4041 (2019)). Jones’ new counsel conducted

almost no investigation outside of the evidence in the trial

4 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

record. In short, Jones’ postconviction counsel failed to in-

vestigate the ineffective assistance of Jones’ trial counsel.

Counsel moved for the appointment of an investigator, but

did so under the wrong provision of Arizona law. The mo-

tion was denied. Counsel ultimately filed a petition for

postconviction relief that failed to advance any argument

that Jones’ trial counsel was ineffective for failing to inves-

tigate the State’s medical evidence. Arizona courts denied

the petition. See ante, at 4–5.

Jones then sought federal habeas relief, at last repre-

sented by competent counsel, and alleged that his trial

counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing ade-

quately to investigate his case. The District Court held an

evidentiary hearing at which Jones presented evidence that

the injuries to Rachel could not have been inflicted at the

time the State alleged that Jones was with her, and that

this evidence would have been readily available to Jones’

trial and state postconviction counsel, had they investi-

gated the case. The District Court concluded that Jones’

postconviction counsel had rendered ineffective assistance

in failing to raise this claim in state postconviction proceed-

ings and therefore held that Jones could raise it for the first

time in federal court under Martinez. The District Court

also relied on this evidence to hold, on the merits, that

Jones received ineffective assistance at trial. The court

found that there was a “reasonable probability that the jury

would not have unanimously convicted [Jones] of any of the

counts” if Jones’ trial counsel had “adequately investigated

and presented medical and other expert testimony to rebut

the State’s theory” of Jones’ guilt. 327 F. Supp. 3d, at 1211.

Arizona moved to stay the granting of the habeas writ by

arguing that 28 U. S. C. §2254(e)(2), a provision enacted as

part of AEDPA, barred the District Court from considering

on the merits the evidence that Jones developed to satisfy

Martinez’s requirements. The District Court denied the

motion, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed in relevant part.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 5

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

Relying on Martinez’s recognition that “ ‘[c]laims of ineffec-

tive assistance at trial often require investigative work,’ ”

the Ninth Circuit concluded that Ҥ2254(e)(2) does not pre-

vent a district court from considering new evidence, devel-

oped to overcome a procedural default under Martinez v.

Ryan, when adjudicating the underlying claim on de novo

review.” 943 F. 3d 1211, 1222 (2019) (quoting Martinez, 566

U. S., at 11).

B

Respondent David Ramirez was convicted for the capital

murders of his girlfriend and her daughter. At the sentenc-

ing phase, the state court appointed a psychologist to con-

duct a mental health evaluation. Ramirez’s counsel failed

to provide the psychologist with evidence that Ramirez had

an intellectual disability and failed to develop a claim of in-

tellectual disability to present in mitigation against the im-

position of a death sentence and in support of the imposition

of a sentence of life without parole. Ramirez was sentenced

to death.

As in Jones’ case, an Arizona state court appointed

Ramirez counsel for his state postconviction claim. And as

in Jones’ case, state postconviction proceedings were

Ramirez’s first opportunity to raise a claim of trial ineffec-

tiveness. Ramirez’s postconviction attorney, however, did

not conduct any investigation beyond the existing trial rec-

ord, despite being aware of indications that Ramirez might

have intellectual disabilities, including that his mother

drank when she was pregnant with him and that he demon-

strated developmental delays as a child. Nor did Ramirez’s

postconviction counsel argue that Ramirez’s trial counsel

provided ineffective assistance by failing to develop and

present this mitigating evidence. Arizona courts denied

Ramirez’s postconviction petition.

Citing “ ‘concerns regarding the quality’ ” of Ramirez’s

6 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

prior counsel, a Federal District Court appointed the Ari-

zona Federal Public Defender to represent him in federal

habeas proceedings. Ramirez v. Ryan, 937 F. 3d 1230, 1238

(CA9 2019). In his habeas petition, Ramirez raised a claim

concerning the ineffectiveness of his trial counsel. In sup-

port of his claim, Ramirez submitted evidence from family

members, whom trial counsel and state postconviction

counsel had never contacted, revealing the depths of abuse

and neglect Ramirez experienced as a child and the life-long

manifestations of his possible disability. The evidence

showed that Ramirez grew up eating on the floor and sleep-

ing on dirty mattresses in houses filthy with animal feces;

that Ramirez’s mother would beat him with electrical cords;

and that Ramirez displayed multiple apparent developmen-

tal delays, including “delayed walking, potty training, and

speech” and inability to maintain basic hygiene or to use

utensils to eat. Id., at 1239. In addition, the court-ap-

pointed psychologist who evaluated Ramirez during the

sentencing phase of trial averred to the habeas court that if

trial counsel had provided him with Ramirez’s school rec-

ords and prior IQ scores, he would have thought they sug-

gested intellectual disability and insisted on more compre-

hensive testing.1 Finally, Ramirez’s trial counsel submitted

an affidavit stating that she had not been “prepared to han-

dle ‘the representation of someone as mentally disturbed as

. . . Ramirez’ ” and explaining that the evidence from

——————

1 This evidence would have been relevant for the jurors’ penalty delib-

erations. Arizona law requires the penalty phase jury to consider, in de-

ciding whether to impose a death sentence, certain “mitigating circum-

stances,” including the “defendant’s capacity to appreciate the

wrongfulness of his conduct.” Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §13–751(G)(1). The

Constitution guarantees convicted capital defendants the right to pre-

sent mitigating evidence. See Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U. S. 104

(1982).

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 7

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

Ramirez’s family members, had she uncovered it in an in-

vestigation, “ ‘would have changed the way [she] handled

both [Ramirez’s] guilt phase and his sentencing phase.’ ”

Id., at 1240. In light of this evidence, Ramirez sought an

opportunity to develop his trial-ineffectiveness claim fur-

ther.2

The District Court denied relief on Ramirez’s trial-inef-

fectiveness claim and declined to allow further evidentiary

development. On appeal, Arizona conceded that Ramirez’s

postconviction counsel performed deficiently. The Ninth

Circuit reversed and remanded, holding that Ramirez had

satisfied the requirements of Martinez because postconvic-

tion counsel had provided ineffective representation and

Ramirez’s trial-ineffectiveness claim was substantial. The

Ninth Circuit directed the District Court to allow eviden-

tiary development of Ramirez’s trial-ineffectiveness claim,

recognizing that he had been “precluded from such develop-

ment because of his post-conviction counsel’s ineffective

representation.” 937 F. 3d, at 1248.

II

Martinez and Trevino afford habeas petitioners like

Jones and Ramirez the opportunity to bring certain trial-

ineffectiveness claims for the first time in federal court.

The question before the Court is whether Jones and

Ramirez can make good on that opportunity by developing

evidence in support of these claims, or whether AEDPA

nevertheless requires them to rely on the state-court rec-

ords, constructed by ineffective trial and postconviction

——————

2 The District Court initially denied Ramirez’s petition, and Ramirez

appealed. While his appeal was pending in the Ninth Circuit, this Court

decided Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U. S. 1 (2012), and the Ninth Circuit re-

manded Ramirez’s appeal to the District Court in light of that decision.

See App. 452–453. On remand, the District Court ordered supplemental

briefing, and Ramirez submitted affidavits from his family members and

trial counsel in support of his trial-ineffectiveness claim. See id., at 454–

455, 473–474.

8 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

counsel, because they “failed to develop the factual basis of

[the ineffective assistance] claim[s] in State court proceed-

ings.” 28 U. S. C. §2254(e)(2).

Under this Court’s precedents, the answer is clear. Mar-

tinez and Trevino establish that petitioners are not at fault

for any failure to raise their claims in state court in these

circumstances. Other precedents hold that AEDPA’s

§2254(e)(2)’s “failed to develop” language, too, incorporates

a threshold requirement that the petitioner be at fault for

not developing evidence. A petitioner cannot logically be

faultless for not bringing a claim because of postconviction

counsel’s ineffectiveness, yet at fault for not developing its

evidentiary basis for exactly the same reason.

A

This Court’s precedents, culminating in Martinez and

Trevino, explain the circumstances under which habeas pe-

titioners are deemed accountable for their attorneys’ fail-

ures to present claims in state court. A petitioner who does

not properly present a claim in a state proceeding generally

may not raise the claim in federal court, because the claim

has been “procedurally defaulted.” See, e.g., Murray v. Car-

rier, 477 U. S. 478, 486 (1986).

A federal court, however, can excuse a procedural default

and permit a petitioner to raise a claim for the first time in

federal court if the petitioner can “demonstrate cause for

the procedural default in state court and actual prejudice

as a result of the alleged violation of federal law.” Maples

v. Thomas, 565 U. S. 266, 280 (2012) (internal quotation

marks and alterations omitted). This Court has held that

“[c]ause for a procedural default exists where something ex-

ternal to the petitioner . . . that cannot fairly be attributed

to him impeded his efforts to comply with the State’s proce-

dural rule.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks and alterations

omitted).

As a general matter, attorney error does not constitute

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 9

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

cause to excuse procedural default because courts attribute

attorneys’ errors to their clients. Coleman v. Thompson,

501 U. S. 722, 753 (1991). In certain situations, however,

attorney error will instead “be seen as an external factor”

and therefore constitute cause. Id., at 754. In Maples, we

held that where an attorney abandoned his client without

notice, “principles of agency law and fundamental fairness”

required finding cause to excuse a procedural default, as the

petitioner had been “disarmed by extraordinary circum-

stances quite beyond his control.” 565 U. S., at 289. In

Coleman, we explained that “[a]ttorney error that consti-

tutes ineffective assistance of counsel” similarly demon-

strates cause to excuse procedural default in the context of

a direct appeal. 501 U. S., at 753–754. Coleman explained

that error that “constitutes a violation of petitioner’s right

to counsel . . . must be seen as an external factor, i.e., ‘im-

puted to the State’ ” because the Sixth Amendment places

the burden of guaranteeing effective assistance of counsel

on the State. Id., at 754.

Coleman left unanswered the question whether ineffec-

tive assistance of counsel at the postconviction stage, where

defendants generally do not have a constitutional right to

counsel, could also constitute cause to excuse default. See

id., at 755. This question is critical in Arizona and other

States that do not allow defendants to raise trial-ineffec-

tiveness claims on direct appeal, where individuals are con-

stitutionally entitled to effective counsel, and instead re-

quire them to raise these claims for the first time in

collateral proceedings, in which this Court has not recog-

nized a constitutional right to counsel.

Martinez, 566 U. S. 1, held that in these States, postcon-

viction counsel’s failure to raise a substantial trial-ineffec-

tiveness claim could constitute cause to excuse a procedural

default. The Court observed that where a state collateral

proceeding is the first time that a petitioner can press a

trial-ineffectiveness claim, the collateral proceeding is “the

10 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

equivalent of a prisoner’s direct appeal,” and constitutes the

petitioner’s “ ‘one and only appeal’ ” as to that claim. Id., at

8, 11 (quoting Coleman, 501 U. S., at 756). Because this

result was occasioned by the State’s “deliberat[e] cho[ice] to

move [such] claims outside of the direct-appeal process,

where counsel is constitutionally guaranteed,” the Court

held that the general attorney-attribution rule did not ap-

ply where postconviction counsel rendered ineffective assis-

tance, just as it would not if appellate counsel on direct re-

view had done so. Martinez, 566 U. S., at 13–14, 16.

Instead, Martinez held, for a habeas petitioner with a “sub-

stantial” underlying trial-ineffectiveness claim who also

has the misfortune of being represented by ineffective post-

conviction counsel, the failure of postconviction counsel to

raise the trial-ineffectiveness claim is not properly attribut-

able to the petitioner. Id., at 14.

A year later, in Trevino, 569 U. S. 413, the Court reaf-

firmed and extended Martinez’s core holding. Trevino held

that where a State does not offer “a meaningful opportunity

to present a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel

on direct appeal,” a defendant whose collateral-review

counsel renders ineffective assistance has demonstrated

cause to excuse the procedural default of his trial-ineffec-

tiveness claim. 569 U. S., at 428.3

B

There is no dispute here that respondents’ trial-ineffec-

tiveness claims clear the procedural default hurdle under

Martinez and Trevino. The question is whether a habeas

petitioner can be faultless for a procedural default under

——————

3 While Martinez analyzed a state statutory regime that expressly re-

quired defendants to raise an ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel

claim on collateral review, Trevino confronted a state statutory regime

that left open the theoretical possibility of raising such a claim on direct

appeal, but made it “ ‘virtually impossible’ ” for defendants to do so. 569

U. S., at 423.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 11

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

Martinez and nonetheless barred by AEDPA’s §2254(e)(2)

from seeking an evidentiary hearing in federal court, sub-

ject to exceptions not applicable here, because the petitioner

“failed to develop the factual basis of [the procedurally de-

faulted] claim in State court proceedings.”

Precedent establishes that §2254(e)(2) incorporates a

threshold, fault-based “fail[ure] to develop” standard that

must be understood in conjunction with the fault-based rea-

soning in Martinez. In Williams v. Taylor, 529 U. S. 420

(2000), this Court examined what it means to have “failed

to develop the factual basis of a claim” under §2254(e)(2).

The Court concluded that this language imposes a fault-

based standard, meaning that it erects a bar only to those

who bear some responsibility for a lack of evidentiary de-

velopment in state-court proceedings. The Court acknowl-

edged that “fail” is “sometimes used in a neutral way, not

importing fault or want of diligence.” Id., at 431. As a mat-

ter of ordinary meaning, however, the Court concluded that

“fail” in §2254(e)(2) connotes “some omission, fault, or neg-

ligence.” Ibid. The Court explained that “a person is not at

fault when his diligent efforts to perform an act are

thwarted” by an external force. Id., at 432.

Williams found further support for its fault-based read-

ing of “failed to develop” in pre-AEDPA cases that foreshad-

owed the language of §2254(e)(2). Specifically, Williams

noted the similarity between the text of §2254(e)(2) and the

language of the Court’s decision in Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes,

504 U. S. 1 (1992). The Williams Court reasoned that when

it enacted AEDPA, Congress had “raised the bar Keeney im-

posed on prisoners who were not diligent” (i.e., those who

were at fault) “in state-court proceedings.” 529 U. S., at 433

(emphasis added). At the same time, however, “the opening

clause of §2254(e)(2) codifies Keeney’s threshold standard of

diligence.” Id., at 434. Phrased differently, under AEDPA,

“[i]f there has been no lack of diligence at the relevant

stages in the state proceedings, the prisoner has not ‘failed

12 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

to develop’ the facts under §2254(e)(2)’s opening clause, and

he will be excused from showing compliance with the bal-

ance of the subsection’s requirements.” Id., at 437.

The reasoning of Martinez and Trevino applies with equal

force to the threshold diligence/fault standard of Keeney,

Williams, and §2254(e)(2). Under Williams, whether peti-

tioners who satisfy Martinez are nevertheless subject to

§2254(e)(2) turns on whether they were at fault for not de-

veloping evidence in support of their trial-ineffectiveness

claims in state postconviction proceedings. All agree that a

habeas petitioner is not at fault when the responsibility for

an error is properly imputed to the State or to some other

external factor. Martinez cases are among the rare ones in

which attorney error constitutes such an external factor.

That is because a State’s “deliberat[e] cho[ice]” to move trial

ineffectiveness claims outside of direct appeal and into post-

conviction review “significantly diminishes prisoners’ abil-

ity to file such claims.” Martinez, 566 U. S., at 13. There is

nothing nefarious about this choice, but it is “not without

consequences.” Ibid. Together, Martinez, Trevino, and Wil-

liams demonstrate that when a State both provides a crim-

inal defendant with ineffective trial counsel and decides to

remove his trial-ineffectiveness claim from appellate re-

view, postconviction counsel’s ineffectiveness cannot fairly

be attributed to the defendant, and he therefore has not

“failed to develop the factual basis of [his] claim.”

§2254(e)(2).

Any other reading hollows out Martinez and Trevino.

Martinez repeatedly recognized that to prove a trial-ineffec-

tiveness claim (or even to show that it is “substantial”), ha-

beas petitioners frequently must introduce evidence outside

of the trial record. See, e.g., 566 U. S., at 13 (“Ineffective-

assistance claims often depend on evidence outside the trial

record”). Ineffective-assistance claims frequently turn on

errors of omission: evidence that was not obtained, wit-

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 13

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

nesses that were not contacted, experts who were not re-

tained, or investigative leads that were not pursued.

Demonstrating that counsel failed to take each of these

measures by definition requires evidence beyond the trial

record. See Trevino, 569 U. S., at 413 (observing that “ ‘the

inherent nature of most ineffective assistance’ ” claims

means that the “trial court record will often fail to ‘contai[n]

the information necessary to substantiate’ the claim”); Brief

for Federal Defender Capital Habeas Units as Amici Curiae

4–6. Indeed, the very reason States like Arizona might

choose to reserve a trial-ineffectiveness claim for a collat-

eral proceeding is to allow development of the factual basis

for the claim. Martinez, 566 U. S., at 13. To hold a peti-

tioner at fault for not developing a factual basis because of

postconviction counsel’s ineffectiveness in the Martinez

context, however, would be to eliminate altogether such ev-

identiary development and doom many meritorious trial-in-

effectiveness claims that satisfy Martinez. Such a rule is

not only inconsistent with the reasoning of Martinez and

Trevino but renders those decisions meaningless in many,

if not most, cases.

C

Applying this interpretation of §2254(e)(2) here makes

clear that Jones and Ramirez are not at fault for their at-

torneys’ failures to develop the state-court record. In Jones’

case, the District Court found, and the Ninth Circuit

agreed, that Jones satisfied the demanding requirements of

Martinez: Arizona appointed postconviction counsel who

did not meet the minimum qualifications for appointment

and who failed to raise a substantial (indeed, meritorious)

trial-ineffectiveness claim. In Ramirez’s case, too, the

Ninth Circuit held that postconviction counsel was ineffec-

tive for failing to investigate Ramirez’s upbringing (despite

clear indications of his disability) and for failing to raise or

develop a substantial claim of trial ineffectiveness. The

14 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

lower courts thus held that both respondents satisfied the

demanding requirements of Martinez, holdings that the

Court does not question.

By definition, Jones and Ramirez are not at fault for their

state postconviction counsel’s failures to develop evidence.

Jones and Ramirez acted diligently, but their attorneys’ er-

rors, paired with the State’s choice of how to structure their

review proceedings, constituted external impediments. As

a result, Jones and Ramirez have not “failed to develop” the

factual bases of their claims, and AEDPA’s §2254(e)(2),

properly interpreted, poses no bar to evidentiary develop-

ment in federal court.

III

Rejecting the teachings of Martinez and Trevino, the

Court adopts an irrational reading of §2254(e)(2). The

Court begins with the uncontested proposition that, in the

ordinary case, a habeas petitioner “ ‘must bear the risk of

attorney error.’ ” Ante, at 11 (quoting Coleman, 501 U. S.,

at 753). From there, the Court leaps to the conclusion that

a petitioner is at fault for not developing the evidentiary

record on a trial-ineffectiveness claim even if that lack of

development was the result of his postconviction counsel’s

ineffective assistance. Ante, at 12.

The Court’s analysis rests on two fundamental errors.

First, the Court eviscerates Martinez and Trevino and mis-

characterizes other precedents. Second, the Court relies

upon its own mistaken understanding of AEDPA’s policies

and the state interests at issue, recycling claims rejected by

the Martinez Court and ignoring the careful balance struck

by Congress. In doing so, the Court gives short shrift to the

egregious breakdowns of the adversarial system that oc-

curred in these cases, breakdowns of the type that federal

habeas review exists to correct.

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 15

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

A

The doctrinal consequence of the Court’s distortion of

precedent is to render Martinez and Trevino dead letters in

the mine run of cases. As explained, those precedents are

premised on the understanding that a habeas petitioner is

not responsible for a postconviction attorney’s ineffective

failure to assert a substantial trial-ineffectiveness claim in

States that do not offer petitioners a meaningful oppor-

tunity to raise such claims on direct appeal. The Court,

however, does not grapple with this logic on its own terms.

Instead, the Court limits Martinez and Trevino to their

facts, emptying them of all meaning in the ordinary case

(where, as those precedents explain, a trial-ineffectiveness

claim will necessarily rely on evidence beyond the trial rec-

ord). Tellingly, the Court relies on the dissent in Trevino to

support its disregard of these cases’ reasoning. See ante, at

18.

The Court’s analysis also rests on a misplaced view of

Williams. The Court fixates on Williams’ statement that

§2254(e)(2) “raised the bar Keeney imposed on prisoners

who were not diligent in state-court proceedings.” 529

U. S., at 433; see ante, at 16. The Court emphasizes the

first part of that statement while ignoring its qualification:

that §2254(e)(2) raised the bar for “prisoners who were not

diligent.” In other words, it is undisputed that the “bar for

excusing a prisoner’s failure to develop the state-court rec-

ord” is an onerous one, ante, at 12; the question is whether,

in this context, a habeas petitioner has failed to develop the

record in the first place. Martinez and Trevino make clear

that habeas petitioners in Jones’ and Ramirez’s position do

not lack diligence and are not at fault for the failures of

their ineffective trial and postconviction counsel.

The Court further charges that respondents’ interpreta-

tion of §2254(e)(2) “lacks any principled limit.” Ante, at 17.

Here again, the Court resuscitates a complaint that previ-

ously was relegated to a dissent. See Martinez, 566 U. S.,

16 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

at 19 (Scalia, J., dissenting) (“[N]o one really believes that

[the holding of Martinez] will remain limited to ineffective-

assistance-of-trial-counsel cases”). The complaint is just as

unavailing now that it has captured a majority. Respond-

ents’ interpretation only affects habeas petitioners raising

substantial trial-ineffectiveness claims in the subset of

States that limit such claims to postconviction review, just

as Martinez did. In that context, postconviction review is a

prisoner’s “one and only appeal” of a trial-ineffectiveness

claim, Coleman, 501 U. S., at 756 (internal quotation marks

omitted; emphasis deleted), and the ineffective assistance

of counsel at that stage forecloses review of a crucially im-

portant constitutional right. Any assertion that respond-

ents’ interpretation of the statute would blow the door open

to myriad other claims is hyperbole that this Court, until

today, consistently has rejected.

Finally, the Court finds it implausible that Congress

would have considered the threshold diligence inquiry un-

der §2254(e)(2) to account for the Martinez context. Ante,

at 16–17. But Congress legislated against the backdrop of

Coleman. Coleman, in turn, made clear (decades before

Martinez) that in certain circumstances where attorney er-

ror could be “seen as an external factor, i.e., ‘imputed to the

State,’ ” including the ineffective assistance of counsel on di-

rect appeal, the prisoner would not properly be deemed at

fault. Coleman, 501 U. S., at 754. Moreover, it is not un-

common for Congress to adopt statutory language that in-

corporates an evolving judicial doctrine, see, e.g., Kimble v.

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, 576 U. S. 446, 461 (2015), and

there is no reason this Court should second-guess Congress’

choice to incorporate a judicially created diligence doctrine

here.

B

Much of the Court’s opinion focuses not on the text of

§2254(e)(2), nor on the relevant precedents, but on what the

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 17

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

Court views as AEDPA’s unyielding purpose: ensuring that

federal courts “afford unwavering respect” to state court

criminal proceedings. Ante, at 21; see also ante, at 6–9, 18–

19, 20–21. The Court seriously errs by suggesting that

AEDPA categorically prioritizes maximal deference to

state-court convictions over vindication of the constitu-

tional protections at the core of our adversarial system.

It is of course true that AEDPA’s rules are designed to

“ensure that state-court judgments are accorded the finality

and respect necessary to preserve the integrity of legal pro-

ceedings within our system of federalism.” Martinez, 566

U. S., at 9. The enacting Congress, however, did not pursue

these aims at all costs. AEDPA does not render state judg-

ments unassailable, but strikes a balance between respect-

ing state-court judgments and preserving the necessary

and vital role federal courts play in “guard[ing] against ex-

treme malfunctions in the state criminal justice sys-

tems.” Harrington v. Richter, 562 U. S. 86, 102–103 (2011)

(internal quotation marks omitted). Indeed, “ ‘Congress

has recognized that federal habeas corpus has a particu-

larly important role to play in promoting fundamental fair-

ness in the imposition of the death pen-

alty.’ ” Christeson v. Roper, 574 U. S. 373, 377 (2015) (per

curiam). Absent that role, what this Court regularly calls

“the Great Writ” hardly would be worthy of the label. See,

e.g., Holland v. Florida, 560 U. S. 631, 649 (2010).

The Court today supplants the balance Congress struck

with its single-minded focus on finality. In doing so, it over-

states the harm to States that would result from allowing

petitioners to develop facts in support of Martinez claims.

See ante, at 18. Importantly, Martinez applies only where

the underlying claim is one of trial ineffectiveness, and only

if a petitioner demonstrates that the claim is “substantial.”

566 U. S., at 14. The Court reaches to support its holding

by yet again repackaging a dissenter’s warning, this time

18 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

that Martinez would “put a significant strain on state re-

sources.” Id., at 22 (opinion of Scalia, J.). Nearly a decade

of experience with Martinez, however, has proved this un-

founded prediction false. In a 9-year sample of three States

(Florida, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina), federal courts

adjudicated 1,200 habeas petitions raising Martinez claims.

See Brief for Habeas Scholars as Amici Curiae 7–8. These

courts held evidentiary hearings in less than two percent of

these cases. Ibid. The lower federal courts, in other words,

are perfectly capable of policing Martinez’s limits. There is

no reason to expect that to change from an affirmance here.

In the same vein, the Court bemoans the “sprawling evi-

dentiary hearing” conducted by the District Court in Jones’

case. Ante, at 19. Of course, the scope of the District Court’s

hearing (including evidence from medical experts, forensic

experts, law enforcement personnel, and others) was neces-

sary only because trial counsel failed to present any of that

evidence during the guilt phase of Jones’ capital case. Far

from constituting an inappropriate and “wholesale relitiga-

tion of Jones’s guilt,” ibid., the District Court’s hearing was

wide-ranging precisely because the breakdown of the adver-

sarial system in Jones’ case was so egregious.

The Court suggests that evidentiary hearings like Jones’

will “encourag[e] prisoners” to “ ‘sandba[g]’ state courts” by

strategically holding back claims from state postconviction

review to present them for the first time in federal court.

Ante, at 22. That claim is odd, particularly in this context.

It is a State’s decision to divert trial-ineffectiveness claims

from direct appeal to postconviction review, and then to pro-

vide ineffective postconviction counsel, that results in the

failure to raise or develop such claims before state courts.

No habeas petitioner or postconviction counsel could possi-

bly perceive a strategic benefit from failing to raise a meri-

torious trial-ineffectiveness claim in an available forum.

Indeed, the whole thrust of Jones’ and Ramirez’s argument

is that their Sixth Amendment claims were so obvious that

Cite as: 596 U. S. ____ (2022) 19

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

their state postconviction attorneys were ineffective in fail-

ing to assert them.

On the other side of the ledger, the Court understates, or

ignores altogether, the gravity of the state systems’ failures

in these two cases. To put it bluntly: Two men whose trial

attorneys did not provide even the bare minimum level of

representation required by the Constitution may be exe-

cuted because forces outside of their control prevented them

from vindicating their constitutional right to counsel. It is

hard to imagine a more “extreme malfunctio[n],” Harring-

ton, 562 U. S., at 102 (internal quotation marks omitted),

than the prejudicial deprivation of a right that constitutes

the “foundation for our adversary system,” Martinez, 566

U. S., at 12.

Nor will the damage be limited to these two cases. Even

before Martinez, this Court recognized that a trial record is

“often incomplete or inadequate” to demonstrate inade-

quate assistance of counsel. Massaro v. United States, 538

U. S. 500, 505 (2003). A trial record “may contain no evi-

dence of alleged errors of omission,” like a failure suffi-

ciently to investigate a case. Ibid. For a court to discern

“whether [any] alleged error was prejudicial,” too, it is ob-

vious that “additional factual development” may be re-

quired. Ibid. The on-the-ground experience of capital ha-

beas attorneys confirms this commonsense notion. See

Brief for Federal Defender Capital Habeas Units as Amici

Curiae 3–4. The Court’s decision thus reduces to rubble

many habeas petitioners’ Sixth Amendment rights to the

effective assistance of counsel.

Contrary to the Court’s account, the fundamental fair-

ness concerns that arise from this particular type of break-

down are not unconditionally eclipsed by the need to accord

finality and respect to state-court judgments. Ante, at 18.

Finality interests are at their apex when the “essential ele-

ments of a presumptively accurate and fair proceeding were

present in the proceeding whose result is challenged.”

20 SHINN v. MARTINEZ RAMIREZ

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668, 694 (1984). The

effective assistance of counsel is one of those essential ele-

ments. See Martinez, 566 U. S., at 12. When the effective

assistance of counsel is absent, leaving a severely dimin-

ished basis for presuming fairness and accuracy, “finality

concerns are somewhat weaker.” Strickland, 466 U. S., at

694. Neither statute nor precedent supports the Court’s as-

sertion that the virtues of finality override fundamental

fairness to such a degree that meaningful review of life-or-

death judgments obtained through such deeply flawed pro-

ceedings should be foreclosed.

Ultimately, the Court’s decision prevents habeas peti-

tioners in States like Arizona from receiving any guaran-

teed opportunity to develop the records necessary to enforce

their Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of

counsel. For the subset of these petitioners who receive in-

effective assistance both at trial and in state postconviction

proceedings, the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee is now an

empty one. Many, if not most, individuals in this position

will have no recourse and no opportunity for relief. The re-

sponsibility for this devastating outcome lies not with Con-

gress, but with this Court.

* * *

Text and precedent instruct that in States that limit re-

view of trial-ineffectiveness claims to postconviction pro-

ceedings, habeas petitioners who receive ineffective assis-

tance of both trial and postconviction counsel are not

responsible for any failure to raise their substantial claim

of trial ineffectiveness, nor for any “fail[ure] to develop” ev-

idence in support of that claim under AEDPA’s §2254(e)(2).

By holding otherwise, the Court not only extinguishes the

central promise of Martinez and Trevino, but it makes illu-

sory the protections of the Sixth Amendment. I respectfully

dissent.