When is the 2255 deadline?

A 2255 motion has to be filed within one year. In most cases the year starts on the date the judgment of conviction became final.¹1 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f)(1). It is crucial to get that date right, because a motion filed late is usually dismissed without anyone reaching the claims.

No appeal. A notice of appeal is due 14 days after the judgment is entered on the court’s docket.²2 Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A), (b)(6) (14 days after entry on the criminal docket). If none was filed, the conviction became final when those 14 days ran out.³3 Moshier v. United States, 402 F.3d 116, 118 (2d Cir. 2005) (an unappealed federal judgment becomes final when the time to appeal expires); accord Sanchez-Castellano v. United States, 358 F.3d 424, 428 (6th Cir. 2004); Kapral v. United States, 166 F.3d 565, 577 (3d Cir. 1999). The appeal time was 10 days when these were decided; it has been 14 since Dec. 1, 2009.

An appeal, but no petition to the Supreme Court. The conviction became final when the 90 days to ask the Supreme Court to review it (a petition for a writ of certiorari) ran out.⁴4 Clay v. United States, 537 U.S. 522, 532 (2003). The 90 days run from the date the court of appeals entered its judgment, or from the date it denied a timely petition for rehearing. They do not run from the mandate, the later paper that sends the case back to the district court.⁵5 Sup. Ct. R. 13.1, 13.3 (eff. Jan. 1, 2023); Clay v. United States, 537 U.S. 522, 527 (2003).

A petition was filed. If the Supreme Court denied it, the conviction became final that day. If the Court took the case and affirmed the conviction, it became final on the day of that decision.⁶6 Clay v. United States, 537 U.S. 522, 527 (2003) (finality attaches when the Court affirms on the merits or denies certiorari). If the Court reversed it or sent the case back, the conviction is not final yet. The year runs from the day the judgment that comes next becomes final, and this calculator can’t count that.⁷7 United States v. Colvin, 204 F.3d 1221, 1224–25 (9th Cir. 2000) (after a reversal and remand, the judgment is not final until the district court enters an amended judgment and the time to appeal it has passed); see Clay, 537 U.S. at 527.

Counting the year. The year ends on the anniversary of the day the conviction became final.⁸8 United States v. Hurst, 322 F.3d 1256, 1260–61 (10th Cir. 2003) (Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a) principles; the anniversary date is the last day). When a deadline lands on a Saturday, a Sunday or a federal holiday, the counting rules carry it to the next day the court is open.⁹9 Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(1)(C), (a)(6) (the § 2255 year); Fed. R. App. P. 26(a)(1)(C), (a)(6) (the 14 days to appeal); Sup. Ct. R. 30.1 (the 90 days); 5 U.S.C. § 6103(a). This calculator shows two dates: the safe date, which ignores every one of those roll-overs, and the date by the rules, which applies them. If the safe date is itself a Saturday, a Sunday or a federal holiday, it also names the last weekday before it that isn’t a holiday. Ensure you plan around the safe date.

Filing from prison. A motion from someone in prison is on time if it is put in the prison’s internal mail system on or before the last day.¹⁰10 Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings for the U.S. District Courts, Rule 3(d). Use the legal mail system and keep proof of the date you handed it over.

• It counts one start date only. The law has three others: when a barrier the government created is removed, when the Supreme Court recognizes a new right and makes it retroactive, and when new facts could have been found with diligence.¹¹11 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f)(2)–(4). They can start a later clock, and this calculator doesn’t work them out.
• It doesn’t count tolling. A court can extend the year only for someone who pursued their rights diligently and was blocked by something extraordinary, and that is rare.¹²12 Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631, 649 (2010) (a petitioner must show “(1) that he has been pursuing his rights diligently, and (2) that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way”). Holland decided the parallel limit for state prisoners, 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d); the circuits apply it to § 2255.
• Some events change the start. An amended or corrected judgment, a resentencing, an extension of the time to appeal, or a late notice of appeal can all move the date.¹³13 Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4) (the district court may extend the time to appeal by up to 30 days).
• It counts federal holidays only. State holidays where the court sits can also extend a deadline under the rules. The safe date ignores all of them anyway.
• It is a calculator, not advice. File as early as you can, and confirm the date with a lawyer. Once the year has passed, very little can be done.