28 USC § 2264 - Scope of Federal review; district court adjudications

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t28/s2264"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "28 USC § 2264 - Scope of Federal review; district court adjudications"
title_number: 28
title_name: "JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE"
section_number: "2264"
section_name: "Scope of Federal review; district court adjudications"
chapter_number: 154
chapter_name: "SPECIAL HABEAS CORPUS PROCEDURES IN CAPITAL CASES"
part_number: "VI"
part_name: "PARTICULAR PROCEEDINGS"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-73"
last_updated: "2026-03-26"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Added Pub. L. 104–132, title I, § 107(a), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1223.)"
---


# § 2264. Scope of Federal review; district court adjudications

**(a)** Whenever a State prisoner under capital sentence files a petition for habeas corpus relief to which this chapter applies, the district court shall only consider a claim or claims that have been raised and decided on the merits in the State courts, unless the failure to raise the claim properly is—

**(1)** the result of State action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States;

**(2)** the result of the Supreme Court’s recognition of a new Federal right that is made retroactively applicable; or

**(3)** based on a factual predicate that could not have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence in time to present the claim for State or Federal post-conviction review.

**(b)** Following review subject to subsections (a), (d), and (e) of section 2254, the court shall rule on the claims properly before it.

---

**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 104–132, title I, § 107(a), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1223.)

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section applicable to cases pending on or after , see , set out as a note under .