Abrams v. Laughlin

Summary

The Court affirmed dismissal of Abrams's state habeas petition as untimely. It held that the four-year period for a newly recognized right begins on the date the right is initially recognized, not when retroactivity is later established, and that a change in law is not a newly discovered fact that restarts the limitations period. Abrams's petition, filed more than four years after the relevant decision, was therefore untimely under every potentially applicable limitations provision.