Steven J. Nowaczyk v. Warden, New Hampshire State Prison

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

This is the latest in a steady stream of cases involving the complex procedural requirements that govern habeas corpus petitions filed under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C. § 2254. This case differs from the norm, however, because the petition before us does not suffer from any procedural flaw. It was filed within AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations, see id. § 2244(d)(1), and it contains only fully-exhausted claims, see id. § 2254(b) and (c). Nevertheless, the district court refused to address the merits of those claims and…