Louie M. Schexnayder, Jr., Petitioner v. Darrel Vannoy, Warden

Schexnayder asked the Supreme Court to review whether federal courts should give AEDPA deference (strong weight usually given to state-court decisions in habeas cases) to a Louisiana decision tied to an alleged secret 13-year practice of denying pro se prisoner filings without judicial review. On Dec. 9, 2019, the Court declined review and did not decide that legal question on the merits.

The available record shows the Court finished the case by declining review, but it does not provide a vote count or opinion lineup.

That means the Fifth Circuit's result stayed in place for Schexnayder. More broadly, prisoners challenging state convictions did not get new guidance from the Supreme Court on how federal courts should treat state decisions issued under such a policy.

There is no further Supreme Court action in this docket. Any remaining options would be outside this completed Supreme Court proceeding.

He asked whether federal courts should defer to a state-court decision allegedly produced by a secret policy of denying pro se prisoner applications without judicial review.

Schexnayder was directly affected because the Fifth Circuit's result remained in place. Other prisoners also got no new Supreme Court guidance on this deference issue.

Nothing further happened in this Supreme Court docket. The Court's refusal to hear the case ended its involvement without deciding the merits.