Fears v. Hobbs, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

Filing 18

JUDGMENT/ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 and denying as moot 16 Motion to Appoint Counsel; case dismissed with prejudice. Signed by Honorable Susan O. Hickey on February 17, 2012. (cnn)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
EL DORADO DIVISION

DONALD FEARS

v.

PETITIONER

Civil No. 1:11-cv-01009

RAY HOBBS, Director,
Arkansas Department of Correction

RESPONDENT

JUDGMENT
Before the Court is the Report and Recommendation filed January 18, 2012, by the
Honorable Barry A. Bryant, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.
(ECF No. 14). Judge Bryant recommends that Petitioner’s habeas petition in the above-styled case
be denied as untimely and dismissed with prejudice. Petitioner objects to the Report and
Recommendation's conclusion and contends that the Constitution places no time limit on pursuing
habeas petitions. To the extent that Petitioner is challenging the underlying constitutionality of the
one-year statute of limitations outlined in the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
(“AEDPA”), his objection is without merit. Cf. Felker v. Turpin, 518 U.S. 651 (1996) (upholding
AEDPA’s restrictions on successive petitions); see also Lucidore v. N.Y. State Div. of Parole, 209
F.3d 107, 113 (2d Cir. 2000) (“[B]ecause AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations leaves habeas
petitioners with some reasonable opportunity to have their claims heard on the merits, the limitations
period does not render the habeas remedy ‘inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of detention,’
and therefore does not per se constitute an unconstitutional suspension . . .”).
Accordingly, the Court adopts the Report and Recommendation in toto. Petitioner’s Petition
for Writ of Habeas Corpus (ECF No. 1) is DENIED as untimely and DISMISSED WITH

PREJUDICE. Petitioner’s Motion to Appoint Counsel (ECF No. 16) is DENIED AS MOOT.
IT IS SO ORDERED, this 17th day of February, 2012.

/s/ Susan O. Hickey
Hon. Susan O. Hickey
United States District Judge

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