Thomas Socha v. Reed Richardson

WOOD, Chief Judge.

Thomas Socha has won two battles in his effort to obtain relief from his Wisconsin conviction for murder. See Socha v. Pollard, 621 F.3d 667 (7th Cir. 2010) (Socha I); Socha v. Boughton, 763 F.3d 674 (7th Cir. 2014) (Socha II). He is now hoping to win the war. Perhaps he would have been able to do so, if federal courts had plenary authority to review state-court criminal proceedings. But they do not. Especially since the enactment of the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in 1996, state prisoners seeking federal habeas corpus relief have been required to…