Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a federal appeals court decision that allowed Pedro Hernandez's release after his 1979 conviction for murdering a 6-year-old boy in New York. The court ruled the Second Circuit improperly nullified Hernandez's conviction by applying the Missouri v. Seibert standard to jury instructions, stating the 2004 case did not require jury assessments of confession legality and that the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 limited federal habeas relief.