A state prisoner must comply with state procedural rules to obtain federal judi-cial review of one’s detention or sentence of death, but what if a severe psychiatric impairment or illness prevents the prisoner—or one’s counsel—from complying with those rules? Federal habeas courts have not agreed on whether this type of impairment can excuse a procedural default. This Article argues that courts refus-ing to recognize severe psychiatric impairments as valid excuses for defaults are asking the wrong questions, like whether an impairment is “external to the peti-tioner.” Courts instead should ask whether an impairment impeded a petitioner’s ability to comply with a procedural rule or caused a breakdown in an attorney-cli-ent relationship. Declining to recognize severe impairments as valid excuses in these circumstances is out of step with the Supreme Court’s guidance and creates hard-to-justify inconsistencies with the principles underlying procedural default and other areas of habeas law.

中文翻译：

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扩大原因：联邦法院应如何解决影响州定罪后审查的严重精神障碍

州囚犯必须遵守州程序规则才能获得联邦对其拘留或死刑的司法审查，但如果严重的精神障碍或疾病阻止囚犯（或某人的律师）遵守这些规则怎么办？联邦人身保护法院尚未就此类损害是否可以成为程序性违约的借口达成一致。本文认为，法院拒绝承认严重的精神障碍是缺席的有效借口，这是在问错误的问题，比如障碍是否“对原告来说是外部的”。相反，法院应该询问损害是否妨碍了请愿人遵守程序规则的能力或导致律师与客户关系的破裂。