Fernandez v. United States · ¶2
Held: A prisoner who collaterally attacks the validity of his conviction must proceed through 28 U. S. C. § 2255, not 18 U. S. C. § 3582; the supposed invalidity of a conviction is not among the “extraordinary and compelling reasons” that justify compassionate release. Pp. 419–430. (a) Section 2255 governs collateral attacks on federal convictions and imposes tight procedural constraints, including: a 1-year statute of limitations, §2255(f); a general rule that prisoners get only one shot at collateral relief with narrow exceptions, §§ 2255(h)(1)–(2); a bar on relitigating claims already raised and rejected on direct review, see Kaufman v. United States, 394 U. S. 217, 227, n. 8; and procedural default rules requiring demonstration of “ `cause' ” and “ `prejudice' ” or actual innocence for claims not raised on direct review, Bousley v. United States, 523 U. S. 614, 622. This case arises…Read in context ›
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