Cite as: 512 U. S. 339 (1994)
Opinion of Ginsburg, J.
II
A state prisoner may obtain federal habeas corpus relief "only on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States." 28 U. S. C. § 2254(a) (emphasis added). Respondent Indiana initially argues that the IAD is a voluntary interstate agreement, not a "la[w] . . . of the United States" within the meaning of § 2254(a). Our precedent, however, has settled that issue: While the IAD is indeed state law, it is a law of the United States as well. See Carchman v. Nash, 473 U. S. 716, 719 (1985) (§ 2254 case, holding that the IAD "is a congressionally sanctioned interstate compact within the Compact Clause, U. S. Const., Art. I, § 10, cl. 3, and thus is a federal law subject to federal construction"); Cuyler v. Adams, 449 U. S. 433, 438-442 (1981) ("congressional consent transforms an interstate compact . . . into a law of the United States").
The Court of Appeals recognized that the IAD is both a law of Indiana and a federal statute. 984 F. 2d, at 210. Adopting Stone v. Powell, 428 U. S. 465 (1976), as its framework, however, that court held relief under § 2254 unavailable to Reed. 984 F. 2d, at 213. Stone holds that a federal court may not, under § 2254, consider a claim that evidence from an unconstitutional search was introduced at a state prisoner's trial if the prisoner had "an opportunity for full and fair litigation of [the] claim in the state courts." 428 U. S., at 469. Our opinion in Stone concentrated on "the nature and purpose of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule." Id., at 481. The Court emphasized that its decision confined the exclusionary rule, not the scope of § 2254 generally:
petitioner had been tried within Article IV(c)'s 120-day limit); United States ex rel. Esola v. Groomes, 520 F. 2d 830, 839 (CA3 1975) (remanding to District Court for determination on whether state trial court had granted continuance for good cause pursuant to Article IV(c)).
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