Hohn v. United States, 524 U.S. 236, 14 (1998)

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Cite as: 524 U. S. 236 (1998)

Opinion of the Court

sissippi Publishing Corp. v. Murphree, 326 U. S. 438, 440 (1946). It is true we have held appellate jurisdiction improper when district courts have denied, rather than granted, motions to dismiss for improper venue. The jurisdictional problem in those cases, however, was the interlocu-tory nature of the appeal, not the absence of a proper case. Lauro Lines s.r.l. v. Chasser, 490 U. S. 495 (1989); Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard, 486 U. S. 517 (1988). In any event, concerns about adversity are misplaced in this case. Here the Government entered an appearance in response to the initial application and filed a response opposing Hohn's petition for rehearing and suggestion for rehearing en banc. App. 4, 5.

The argument that this Court lacks jurisdiction under § 1254(1) to review threshold jurisdictional inquiries is further refuted by the recent amendment to 28 U. S. C. § 2244(b)(3). The statute requires state prisoners filing second or successive habeas applications under § 2254 to first "move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider the application." 28 U. S. C. § 2244(b)(3)(A) (1994 ed., Supp. II). The statute further provides "[t]he grant or denial of an authorization by a court of appeals to file a second or successive application shall not be appealable and shall not be the subject of a petition for rehearing or for a writ of certiorari." § 2244(b)(3)(E). It would have been unnecessary to include a provision barring certiorari review if a motion to file a second or successive application would not otherwise have constituted a case in the court of appeals for purposes of 28 U. S. C. § 1254(1). We are reluctant to adopt a construction making another statutory provision superfluous. See, e. g., Kawaauhau v. Geiger, 523 U. S. 57, 62 (1998); United States v. Menasche, 348 U. S. 528, 538-539 (1955).

Inclusion of a specific provision barring certiorari review of denials of motions to file second or successive applications is instructive for another reason. The requirements for cer-

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