Cordell L. Gines v. Anthony Wills, Warden, Menard Correctional Center

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois denied Cordell L. Gines’s 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition challenging his 60-year Illinois sentence. The court held that the petition presented only an unexhausted claim based on the alleged misapplication of state sentencing law, which was not cognizable on federal habeas review. The court dismissed the case with prejudice, terminated related motions as moot, and denied a certificate of appealability.

Holdings

1. A claim alleging only that a state court misapplied state sentencing law does not present a cognizable basis for federal habeas relief.
2. A stay was unwarranted because the petition contained only one unexhausted claim, that claim was based exclusively on state law and lacked merit as a federal habeas claim, and the circumstances did not satisfy the requirements for a Rhines stay.
3. A certificate of appealability was denied because no reasonable jurist could debate whether the district court's rulings were correct.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Gines's challenge to the length of his sentence under Illinois sentencing statutes stated a cognizable claim for federal habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
2. Whether the petition should be stayed under Rhines v. Weber while Gines's state appeal remained pending.
3. Whether a certificate of appealability should issue.

Disposition

dismissed