Prisoners' access to courts
Tashon Earl Hurell v. Kendall
In brief
- Where it stands
- Dismissed
Petition denied.
- What it’s about
- Tashon Earl Hurell asked the Supreme Court to review the Fourth Circuit’s treatment of his claims as untimely, citing alleged limits on access to legal materials, fabricated evidence, and ineffective trial counsel.
- Who it affects
- The denial leaves the Fourth Circuit’s disposition in place for Hurell, but does not endorse its reasoning or decide whether his claims are valid.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about
The Court refused to hear the case (denied review) and did not decide those claims.
Hurell’s petition combined a challenge to a filing deadline with separate claims about evidence and his trial lawyer’s work.
Question presented
1. Whether a federal appellate court may refuse merits review of substantial constitutional claims as untimely where the record reflects prolonged, State-caused denial of all meaningful law-library and mail access, in tension with Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977), and Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631 (2010). 2. Whether the State ’ s knowing use of fabricated evidence — including an affidavit explicitly contradicted by official FBI findings and unsupported forensic claims — violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments even where the lower court deems the error harmless. 3. Whether trial counsel provided ineffective assistance under the Sixth Amendment by failing to challenge false evidence, present material exculpatory and alibi testimony, and request a Franks hearing, thereby depriving petitioner of a meaningful defense. 4. Whether persistent, documented State-imposed barriers preventing access to legal materials and to the courts constitute a “ state-created impediment ” and “ extraordinary circumstance ” sufficient to require tolling or gateway review under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) and Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995).
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
AI analysis generated: Decision Record
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
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Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials from the Court and the parties. Grounded in docket records and cited sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.