Habeas, Federal - No Need to Exhaust Cert Petition to SCOTUS Before Filing Federal Habeas Petition

Roper v Weaver,550 US 598; 127 S Ct 2022 (2007)(may'07).In this case a habeas petitioner was treated differently than his two co-defendants with identical prosecutorial misconduct arguments, because the district court dismissed his habeas petition after he filed a cert petition in the US Supreme Court, forcing petitioner to file again after the effective date of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which in turn forced a stricter review of petitioner's claims.CitingLawrence v Florida,__ US __; 127 S Ct 1079 (2007) the court dismissed the cert grant awarded to the government in this case, holding that it was error to require exhaustion of the cert remedy before allowing petitioner to file his federal habeas action. Remedies are sufficiently exhausted for this purpose when the state courts have completed direct and postconviction review.