Post-Conviction Glossary

Plain-language explanations of terms families encounter in judgments, appellate opinions, sentencing records, and post-conviction proceedings.

Certificate of Appealability

Permission required before most appeals from final orders in federal § 2254 and § 2255 proceedings may proceed.

Collateral Review

A challenge brought outside the ordinary direct-appeal process, usually under a specific post-conviction statute or rule.

Commutation

Executive clemency reducing a sentence being served without erasing the conviction.

Direct Appeal

Review by a higher court that ordinarily focuses on alleged errors shown by the trial-court record.

Evidentiary Hearing

A proceeding at which a court receives testimony or other evidence to decide factual issues, when authorized.

Exhaustion

The requirement that a state prisoner ordinarily present a federal constitutional claim through the required state-court process before federal habeas review.

Expungement

A jurisdiction-specific legal process affecting records of a conviction or case; it is different from a pardon.

Guideline Range

The advisory federal imprisonment range located at the intersection of Total Offense Level and Criminal History Category.

Harmless Error

A doctrine under which an established error may not result in relief if the governing standard for harmful effect is not met.

Habeas Corpus

A legal process testing whether custody violates governing law; modern federal habeas review is highly procedural and limited.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

A constitutional claim generally requiring deficient performance and resulting prejudice under the governing standard.

Mandate

The appellate court’s formal action returning authority to the lower court after appellate proceedings.

Newly Discovered Evidence

Evidence allegedly learned after judgment; availability of relief depends on jurisdiction-specific definitions, diligence, materiality, timing, and procedure.

Pardon

Executive forgiveness that may relieve disabilities or stigma but ordinarily does not erase or expunge the conviction.

Parole

Conditional release under a jurisdiction’s governing law; eligibility is different from a guarantee of release.

Post-Conviction Relief

An umbrella term for court and executive processes potentially available after conviction and sentence.

Prejudice

Required harmful effect. Its precise meaning depends on the claim and governing legal standard.

Presentence Report

A report prepared for sentencing containing offense, history, guideline, victim, financial, and personal information; access and disclosure are controlled.

Procedural Default

A barrier that may arise when a claim was not properly presented under the governing procedural rules.

Relevant Conduct

Conduct considered under the federal Guidelines when determining the offense level, subject to the Guidelines’ rules.

Retroactivity

Whether a new rule, statute, or guideline change applies to judgments or sentences that already became final.

Sentence Modification

Judicial alteration of a sentence under a statute or rule granting the court authority to act.

Successive Petition

A later post-conviction application subject to special restrictions after an earlier application was filed or decided.

Variance

A federal sentence outside the advisory guideline range based on the statutory sentencing factors.

Waiver

Intentional relinquishment of a right or argument; plea and appellate waivers require careful review of text, scope, validity, and exceptions.

Context matters: These definitions provide general orientation. Courts and statutes may use the same term differently depending on the jurisdiction and claim.