Stephen Charles FORDE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. U.S. PAROLE COMMISSION, Respondent-Appellee

The district court denied petitioner Stephen Charles Forde’s 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition for writ of habeas corpus. Forde filed a notice of appeal which the district court construed as a request for a certificate of appealability (COA). The district court denied the request for a COA and referred the request to this court.

We must decide whether 28 U.S.C. § 2253, as amended by the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub.L.No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), requires that Forde receive a COA before we may hear his appeal. The new section 2253(c)(1) provides the following:

Unless…