Rapelje v. McClellan

Summary

Justice Alito, joined by Justice Scalia, dissents from the Supreme Court’s denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari, arguing that the Sixth Circuit misapplied Harrington v. Richter by treating a Michigan Court of Appeals order as ambiguous when Michigan law makes it a clear merits adjudication. He contends that the district court should not have held an evidentiary hearing and that the case should be remanded for proper application of the Harrington presumption.