348
Scalia, J., concurring
To secure habeas relief, petitioner must demonstrate that a state court's finding of the absence of purposeful discrimination was incorrect by clear and convincing evidence, 28 U. S. C. § 2254(e)(1), and that the corresponding factual determination was "objectively unreasonable" in light of the record before the court. The State represents to us that petitioner will not be able to satisfy his burden. That may or may not be the case. It is not, however, the question before us. The COA inquiry asks only if the District Court's decision was debatable. Our threshold examination convinces us that it was.
The judgment of the Fifth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Justice Scalia, concurring.
I join the Court's opinion, but write separately for two reasons: First, to explain why I believe the Court's willingness to consider the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996's (AEDPA) limits on habeas relief in deciding whether to issue a certificate of appealability (COA) is in accord with the text of 28 U. S. C. § 2253(c). Second, to discuss some of the evidence on the State's side of the case— which, though inadequate (as the Court holds) to make the absence of a claimed violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (1986), undebatable, still makes this, in my view, a very close case.
I
Many Court of Appeals decisions have denied applications for a COA only after concluding that the applicant was not entitled to habeas relief on the merits—without even analyzing whether the applicant had made a substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right. See, e. g., Kasi v. Ange-lone, 300 F. 3d 487 (CA4 2002); Wheat v. Johnson, 238 F. 3d
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