Firm Notes on Federal § 2255 Work
Firm news on 2255motion.com is where Criminal Center files short notes on federal § 2255 work. The notes sit apart from the court-decision list and from the client stories. They describe a step in the process. They do not predict what a court will do in another case.
One note here is the twelve-step overview of a § 2255 case, from the one-year filing period through the judge’s ruling and the time to appeal a denial. The sections below are the topics that overview sits beside, with links to the full guides.
The § 2255 motion process, step by step
Twelve steps of a federal § 2255 case, from filing within one year to the judge’s ruling and the 60-day deadline to appeal a denial.
What a § 2255 motion challenges
A motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 asks the sentencing court to vacate, set aside, or correct a federal sentence. Section 2255(a) lists four grounds: a violation of the Constitution or federal law, a court without jurisdiction, a sentence above the legal maximum, and a sentence otherwise subject to collateral attack. Collateral attack means a separate challenge after the conviction is final. Rule 2(b) of the § 2255 rules requires every ground and the facts for each one. See what the motion can challenge and how to file it.
Custody and the one-year deadline
Only a person in custody on the federal sentence may file. Prison, supervised release, probation, and parole all count. 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a). The general deadline is one year from the latest of the dates in § 2255(f). For most people that is when the conviction becomes final: when the 14-day time to appeal runs out, or, after an appeal with no Supreme Court petition, usually 90 days after the court of appeals enters judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A); Clay v. United States, 537 U.S. 522 (2003). Later start dates cover a removed government barrier, a newly recognized retroactive right, and facts that due diligence would not have uncovered sooner. See custody and the one-year deadline.
Common grounds
Ineffective assistance uses the test from Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984): performance below an objective standard of reasonableness, and a reasonable probability of a different result. Prejudice is presumed when a lawyer ignores an instruction to file a notice of appeal, including if an appeal waiver was signed. Roe v. Flores-Ortega, 528 U.S. 470 (2000); Garza v. Idaho, 586 U.S. 232 (2019). A jurisdiction claim argues the court lacked power to impose the sentence, and fewer errors qualify than the word suggests. A new Supreme Court right can start a fresh year for a first motion under § 2255(f)(3), counted from the decision itself. Dodd v. United States, 545 U.S. 353 (2005). A second motion needs the court of appeals’ permission under § 2255(h). See ineffective assistance, jurisdiction claims, and second motions.
How § 2241 and compassionate release differ
Section 2241 is for how a sentence is carried out. The saving clause in § 2255(e) is narrow after Jones v. Hendrix, 599 U.S. 465 (2023). Compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) does not replace a § 2255 motion. In Fernandez v. United States (May 28, 2026), the Supreme Court held that an attack on the validity of a conviction proceeds under § 2255, and that the supposed invalidity of a conviction is not an extraordinary and compelling reason for release. Compare them on the habeas and saving clause pages.
What to gather before filing
Have the judgment, the docket number, and the appeal dates. The longer list — docket, transcripts, plea papers, the presentence report, and the lawyer’s file — is on the page about preparing a § 2255 motion. If you are in Bureau of Prisons custody, do not have the presentence report or statement of reasons mailed into the prison. The Bureau treats those copies as contraband. Gathering records does not stop the one-year clock.
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