Jeffrey Moleterno v. Keith O. Nelson

DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge.

It is a rare case in which a district court grants a state prisoner’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and it is equally rare that federal appellate courts find this relief warranted. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts reported, for example, that in the twelve-month period ending September 30, 1995, a total of 1,062 such petitions were filed in federal district courts in the Seventh Circuit. See Judicial Business of the U.S. Courts: Report of the Director 147, 159 (1995); Memorandum from the Analysis & Reports Branch,…