Day v. McDonough

Day v. McDonough
Argued February 27, 2006
Decided April 25, 2006
Full case namePatrick A. Day v. James R. McDonough, Interim Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections
Docket no.04-1324
Citations547 U.S. 198 (more)
126 S. Ct. 1675; 164 L. Ed. 2d 376; 2006 U.S. LEXIS 3448
Case history
PriorPetition dismissed, sub nom., Day v. Crosby, N.D. Fla; affirmed, 391 F.3d 1192 (11th Cir. 2004); cert. granted, 545 U.S. 1164 (2005).
Holding
The State's unintentional failure to object to the filing of a habeas corpus petition after the statute of limitations expired does not prevent a district court from dismissing the petition on its own initiative. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
MajorityGinsburg, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Souter, Alito
DissentStevens, joined by Breyer
DissentScalia, joined by Thomas, Breyer
Laws applied
28 U.S.C. § 2244(d); Fed. R. Civ. P. 8, 81; Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts 4, 5

Day v. McDonough, 547 U.S. 198 (2006), is a US Supreme Court case involving the one-year statute of limitations for filing habeas corpus petitions that was established by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). In a 5–4 decision, the Court ruled that if the government unintentionally failed to object to the filing of a petition after the AEDPA limitations period has expired, it is not an abuse of discretion for a district court to dismiss sua sponte (on its own initiative) the petition on that basis.