Banks v. Commissioner of Correction

Summary

The court held that the statutory certification requirement does not categorically bar plain-error or constitutional review of unpreserved claims concerning the habeas court’s own handling of the proceeding. Such claims may be reviewed if the appellant shows that they are nonfrivolous under the applicable criteria, including that reasonable jurists could debate them or resolve them differently. The court reversed and remanded because the intermediate appellate court failed to determine whether the petitioner satisfied that threshold.