Petition of the day

By Maureen Johnston
on Nov 24, 2014 at 10:08 pm

The petition of the day is:

Issue: Whether, if a state appellate court rejects an unpreserved federal claim after assessing whether the “plain error” exception to state preservation requirements permitted review, but does not explain its reasoning, a federal habeas court should conclude that the state court ruled on the federal claim’s merits, such that federal court review is appropriate.