Calderon v. Thompson

Summary

The Court held that the Ninth Circuit's sua sponte recall of its mandate did not violate AEDPA's successive-application provisions because it rested exclusively on Thompson's first federal habeas petition. Nevertheless, recalling a mandate to reconsider the merits of a denial of habeas relief to a state prisoner is an abuse of discretion unless necessary to avoid a miscarriage of justice under the Court's actual-innocence standards. Thompson's additional impeachment and forensic evidence failed to satisfy those standards. The Court reversed and remanded with instructions to reinstate the mandate denying relief. Justice Souter, joined by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer, dissented, arguing that ordinary, deferential abuse-of-discretion review governed and permitted the Ninth Circuit to correct procedural failures that may have prevented consideration of a constitutional error affecting Thompson's death eligibility.