Challenges to federal convictions
Jabateh v. United States
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Mohammed Jabateh asks the Supreme Court to review whether he can use a later federal motion to set aside two convictions under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.
- What's at stake
- It remains unresolved whether Jabateh can use a later court motion to challenge his two convictions.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
He says the Third Circuit found his conduct did not fit the statutes’ text but upheld the convictions under the plain-error rule (a rule limiting reversal when an issue was not properly raised earlier), then used a rule against relitigating issues to block his later challenge.
Jabateh says the Third Circuit found his conduct did not fit the charged statutes’ text but still upheld his convictions under the plain-error rule, which limits reversal of errors not properly raised earlier. He says the court then used a rule against relitigating issues to block his later challenge.
The dispute concerns a later motion under federal law to set aside convictions after a direct appeal.
Question presented
Is collateral relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 from an unconstitutional conviction prohibited by a “relitigation bar,” where on direct appeal the court held that the defendant’s conduct did not come within the clear text of the charged statute, yet affirmed on the basis that its conclusion was not “obvious” under the plain error rule, even where § 2255’s “procedural default” doctrine would be overcome by the government’s waiver of that defense and the petitioner’s “actual innocence”?
What happens next
The petition was distributed for the Court’s Nov. 13, 2026 conference. The Court must decide whether to hear it; no argument or decision date is scheduled.
Documents
Docket activity
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More questions
- What is the plain-error rule?
- It limits when an appeals court can reverse an error that was not properly raised earlier.
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.