DODD v. UNITED STATES

MICHAEL DONALD DODD, PETITIONER v. UNITED STATES

on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eleventh circuit

 Justice Ginsburg, with whom Justice Breyer joins, dissenting.

 Essentially for reasons stated by Justice Stevens, I conclude that 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3), is most sensibly read to start the time clock on the date a right is “made retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review.” I therefore join, in principal part, Part II of Justice Stevens’ dissenting opinion.^**

 The Court’s interpretation—that the limitation period begins on “the date on which the right asserted was initially recognized by [this] Court,” 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3)—presents “a real risk that the 1-year limitation period will expire before [a §2255 petitioner’s] cause of action accrues,” ante, at 5 (Stevens, J., dissenting). By contrast, as Justice Breyer explains in his dissenting opinion in Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson, post, at 5–6, a determination that the False Claims Act’s six-year statute of limitations, see 31 U. S. C. §3731(b)(1), governs civil suits for retaliation under the Act, see §3730(h), ordinarily would work no claim deprivation. See ante, at 7–8 (Stevens, J., dissenting) (In Graham County, “the possibility that the 6-year statute of limitations period could run before the cause of action accrued, while plausible, was not particularly likely, since in most cases the retaliatory conduct that would form the basis of the cause of action under 31 U. S. C. §3730(h) would probably occur within six years of the violation of §3729. [In cases like Dodd, on the other hand,] owing to the substantially shorter 1-year statute of limitation period, both requirements of 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3), will often not be met before the statute of limitation period has expired if it is triggered by the decision of the Supreme Court announcing a new rule.” (footnote omitted)).

 Nearly 20 years have passed since Congress amended 31 U. S. C. §3731(b)(1) to provide that “[a] civil action under section 3730 may not be brought … more than 6 years after the date on which the violation of section 3729 is committed.” See Graham County, post, at 2. Yet petitioner Graham County District has been unable to cite a single instance in which a suit has been time barred because the alleged retaliation proscribed by §3730(h) fell outside the period triggered by submission of a false claim in violation of §3729. See Tr. of Oral Arg. in No. 04–169, pp. 4–6; Brief for Respondent in No. 04–169, pp. 4, 15–16; Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae in No. 04–169, pp. 27–28; see also Graham County, post, at 5 (Breyer, J., dissenting). As Dodd’s case illustrates, however, on the Court’s reading, it is “highly probable” that the 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3), limitation “would bar relief before the claim can be brought.” Ante, at 9 (Stevens, J., dissenting). Accordingly, I would not, as Justice Stevens does, bracket the instant case with Graham County.

 True, the limitation period in Graham County, like the §2255, ¶6(3), limitation, is triggered by an event that may precede the accrual date of a claim. But the resemblance ends there. The generous six-year span in 31 U. S. C. §3731(b)(1), in practical effect, will give the plaintiff leeway to commence suit she likely will not have under the typically shorter state limitation. See Graham County, post, at 5 (Breyer, J., dissenting). The opposite effect would attend 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3). The one-year limitation specified there, if triggered by the date on which this Court “initially recognized” the right asserted, bars Dodd and will bar most “new rule” petitioners from presenting their claims. It exalts form over reality to equate the two statutes and cases for time-bar purposes.

MICHAEL DONALD DODD, PETITIONER v. UNITED STATES

on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eleventh circuit

 Justice Stevens, with whom Justice Souter, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Breyer join as to Part II, dissenting.

 Because the same anomalous factor is present in both this case and in Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson, post, p. ___, and is decisive in my analysis of both cases, it is appropriate to explain my views in a single opinion. In each case the most natural reading of the statutory text would make it possible for the limitations period to expire before the cause of action accrues. Whether the source of this possible result is merely the use of careless wording or an incorrect assumption by Congress concerning the timing of two relevant events, I am convinced that Congress did not intend to authorize such a perverse result in either case. Thus, while I agree with much of the reasoning in the Court’s cogent opinion in Graham County, I write separately because I would agree with the Court of Appeals’ reading of the text of 31 U. S. C. §3731(b)(1) were it not for this anomaly. In this case, however, because that same factor provides an even stronger reason for rejecting the interpretation of 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3), that the Court endorses, I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

I

 In Graham County, respondent and the Government argue (and the Court of Appeals held) that the 6-year limitations period applicable to a “civil action under section 3730,” 31 U. S. C. §3731(b)(1), applies to the retaliation action authorized by §3730(h). That argument is supported by a literal reading of the statutory text; for §3730(h) plainly qualifies as “a civil action under section 3730.” Moreover, that reading derives strong support from the interest in having a uniform federal statute of limitations govern the litigation of federal causes of action. Cf. Jones v. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 541 U. S. 369, 377–383 (2004). Nevertheless, I agree with the Court that another reading of the text is far more plausible, and with its conclusion that when choosing between two constructions of a statute of limitations, whenever possible we should prefer the construction that starts the time limit running when the cause of action accrues.¹

 In Graham County that choice is compelled by the interaction between two relevant events: the “violation of §3729” and the retaliatory act against the whistle-blower. Section 3731(b)(1) provides that a “civil action under section 3730” must be brought within six years of a “violation of section 3729.” If this section were read to encompass retaliation claims under §3730(h), as held by the Court of Appeals, the statute of limitations would be triggered by the “violation of §3729”; that is, the limitations period would begin to run before the cause of action for retaliation accrues, and could potentially expire before an actionable retaliation claim even exists. See Graham County, post, at 11; United States ex rel. Wilson v. Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist., 367 F. 3d 245, 260–261 (CA4 2004) (Wilkinson, J., dissenting). Thus, the potentially prolonged time period between the two relevant events—the violation of §3729 (triggering the limitations period) and the retaliation against the whistle-blower (giving rise to an actionable claim)—could leave the well-intentioned whistle-blower without any recourse under §3730(h), the very statute designed to provide such protection.

 The Court rightly avoids that harsh and counterintuitive result by adopting a construction of the statute that would generally start the running of the limitations period from the date the cause of action accrues, i.e., when the act or acts of retaliation occur. As Justice Thomas explains, that is not only the prevailing rule applied throughout the country to analogous state-law claims, Graham County, post, at 9–11, n. 2; it is also the background norm against which Congress legislates, Graham County, post, at 8–9. Because Congress surely did not intend to create a cause of action for retaliation with one hand, and impose with the other a premature trigger date for the limitations period with the potential to bar retaliation claims altogether, I concur in the judgment in Graham County.

II

 The same potential for premature expiration of a statute of limitations is the primary reason why I cannot join the Court’s anomalous construction of the statute in this case. The statute we are called upon to interpret provides a 1-year period of limitation for a habeas petition that has as its basis a new rule of criminal law or criminal procedure that has retroactive application. Title 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3), provides that “the limitation period shall run from … the date on which the right asserted was initially recognized by the Supreme Court, if that right has been newly recognized by the Supreme Court and made retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review.” There are two possible interpretations of when the period should start to run: from the date that this Court recognizes the new right, or from the date that both conditions² in ¶6(3) are met.

 If, as I believe Congress thought to be the case, this Court made a decision concerning a new rule’s retroactive application at the same time it recognized the new right, the statutory scheme would make perfect sense: Petitioners, whether filing an initial habeas petition or a second or successive petition, would have one year from this Court’s decision to file a petition for a writ taking advantage of that decision. Within a relatively short amount of time, those claims would be adjudicated, and the statute’s goals of finality would be duly served. In practice, however, this Court does not ordinarily make retroactivity judgments at the time a new right is recognized.³ See, e.g., Ring v. Arizona, 536 U. S. 584 (2002) (applying Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U. S. 466 (2000), to determinations of death penalty eligibility); Schriro v. Summerlin, 542 U. S. 348 (2004) (concluding Ring was not retroactive). Thus, as in Graham County, the statute implicates two relevant events: this Court’s recognition of a new right (which, according to the majority, triggers the limitation period) and the declaration that the right can be applied retroactively (which allows a petitioner to proceed with the claim). Because a significant amount of time may elapse during the interval between the triggering event and the point at which a petitioner may actually be able to file an action seeking relief under the statute, there is a real risk that the 1-year limitation period will expire before the cause of action accrues. In my judgment, the probable explanation for statutory text that creates this risk is Congress’ apparent assumption that our recognition of the new right and our decision to apply it retroactively would be made at the same time. Otherwise it seems nonsensical to assume that Congress deliberately enacted a statute that recognizes a cause of action, but wrote the limitation period in a way that precludes an individual from ever taking advantage of the cause of action.

 We are thus faced with the same decision as in Graham County: Do we interpret the statute in such a way as to allow prisoners such as Dodd to take advantage of the full year Congress provided for such claims, or do we interpret the statute in such a way that the limitation period will begin to run before a prisoner may take advantage of ¶6(3)? As an initial matter, the text here certainly permits both readings, just as it did in Graham County. Paragraph 6(3) requires that two prerequisites must be met before a habeas petitioner can take advantage of that date as the starting point for the statute of limitations. Both requirements are in the past tense, and both must be satisfied before ¶6(3) is applicable. Furthermore, just as the clause “if that right has been newly recognized by the Supreme Court” describes the date indicated in the phrase “the date on which the right asserted was initially recognized,” it is possible to read the subordinate clause “if that right has been…made retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review” as amplifying the description of the date in the provision’s main clause, rather than adding an additional qualifier. Consequently, while the majority’s reading of ¶6(3)—requiring that the statute of limitations begin to run when this Court recognizes a new rule—may be the more natural reading of the text, that advocated by petitioner—starting the statute of limitations when the new rule is held to be retroactive—is by no means implausible.⁴

 Moreover, the potential for claims to be prematurely barred by the statute of limitations is even greater than in Graham County. There, the possibility that the 6-year statute of limitations period could run before the cause of action accrued, while plausible, was not particularly likely, since in most cases the retaliatory conduct that would form the basis of the cause of action under 31 U. S. C. §3730(h) would probably occur within six years of the violation of §3729.⁵ In this case, owing to the substantially shorter 1-year statute of limitation period, both requirements of 28 U. S. C. §2255, ¶6(3), will often not be met before the statute of limitation period has expired if it is triggered by the decision of the Supreme Court announcing a new rule.

 That result is certainly true for Dodd himself. Richardson v. United States, 526 U. S. 813, was decided on June 1, 1999. Under the majority’s interpretation, the statute of limitations thus expired on June 1, 2000, one year after we recognized the new rule. The Eleventh Circuit, however, did not decide whether Richardson was retroactive until April 19, 2002.⁶ See Ross v. United States, 289 F. 3d 677 (CA11 2002). Thus, Dodd would not, under the majority’s interpretation, have been able to raise his claim at all, since the statute of limitations expired before he could have taken advantage of ¶6(3)’s 1-year grace period.⁷ Even for those prisoners who are incarcerated in a jurisdiction in which the new rule is quickly held to be retroactive, at least part of the 1-year period in which to file a claim taking advantage of the retroactive rule will run before the petition raising the claim can be filed.⁸

 Thus, the admonition in Graham County that “Congress generally drafts statutes of limitations to begin when the cause of action accrues,” post, at 11, applies with special force in this case. Paragraph 6(3) both recognizes a basis for habeas relief by allowing an otherwise barred claim to go forward if certain conditions are met, and also sets forth a 1-year statute of limitation for such claims. It would make no sense for Congress, in the same provision, both to recognize a potential basis for habeas relief and also to make it highly probable that the statute of limitation would bar relief before the claim can be brought. Again, this is not simply a remote possibility: it is true for Dodd himself, and in 6 of the 7 Circuits to have addressed whether Richardson is retroactive. See n. 7, supra. It is this absurd result that convinces me that Congress could not have intended that ¶6(3) should be read in this manner. Even if the text is as clear as the majority claims (a proposition I reject), we should still interpret the text in a manner that would avoid such an absurd result. See, e.g., Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U. S. 417, 429 (1998); Church of Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U. S. 457, 459 (1892).

 To avoid this result, I would interpret ¶6(3) to begin to run only when the Supreme Court has initially recognized the new right and when that right has been held to be retroactive. Under this interpretation, the statute of limitation would not begin to run until the prisoner was actually able to file a petition under ¶6(3), which is the only interpretation Congress could have intended. Although in enacting AEDPA Congress was clearly concerned with finality, see Duncan v. Walker, 533 U. S. 167, 179 (2001), ¶6(3) is an explicit exception to that general preference. Congress surely intended to allow habeas petitioners to take advantage of the new rights that this Court deems retroactive. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to include that section in the statute. That is why, “[a]bsent other indication, a statue of limitations begins to run at the time the plaintiff has the right to apply to the court for relief.” Graham County, post, at 8–9 (quoting TRW Inc. v. Andrews, 534 U. S. 19, 37 (2001) (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).⁹

 In addition to creating the perverse result that the statute of limitations will run before a prisoner can file an initial habeas petition, the Court’s myopic reading of ¶6(3) effectively nullifies 28 U. S. C. §2244(b)(2)(A), which allows prisoners to file second or successive applications based on a retroactive rule.¹⁰ As the majority recognizes in what amounts to a dramatic understatement, its interpretation of ¶6(3) “makes it difficult for applicants filing second or successive §2255 motions to obtain relief.” Ante, at 6. Because of the way ¶¶6(3) and 8(2) interact, a prisoner can only file a second or successive petition based on a newly recognized rule that has been made retroactive if this Court has held the rule to be retroactive within one year of recognizing it. Unfortunately for such prisoners, however, this Court has never done so since Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288 (1989), was decided.¹¹ Because of the need for percolation, and the time it takes for cases to come to this Court from the courts below, it seems unlikely (to say the least) that we would ever do so. Therefore, the majority’s interpretation of ¶6(3) effectively nullifies ¶8(2). It is, of course, a basic canon of statutory construction that we will not interpret a congressional statute in such a manner as to effectively nullify an entire section. See, e.g., Duncan, 533 U. S., at 174 (“[A] statute ought, upon the whole, to be so construed that, if it can be prevented, no clause, sentence, or word shall be superfluous, void, or insignificant” (citations omitted)). It is a strange principle that requires strict adherence to the text of one provision while allowing another to have virtually no real world application. It would seem far wiser to give both sections the meaning that Congress obviously intended.

 Accordingly, while I concur in the judgment in Graham County, I respectfully dissent in Dodd.