Hector Mendez v. United States

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution establishes that the federal government cannot deny a person life, liberty, or property “without due process of law.” Additionally, 28 U.S.C. § 2255 guarantees a federal prisoner who files a motion for relief “shall” receive a “hearing” “[u]nless the motion and files and records of the case conclusively show the prisoner is entitled to no relief.” a) Does a district court deny a federal prisoner the constitutional or statutory “right to be heard” by completely misreading or ignoring the “files and records” of the case and thereafter erroneously denying relief on procedural grounds without a hearing? b) Does a United States Court of Appeals deny a federal prisoner the constitutional or statutory right to be heard when it dismisses a Motion for Certificate Appealability on the purported ground that the prisoner failed to “meaningfully challenge” the district court’s decision to dismiss on procedural grounds without a hearing, when the prisoner clearly did meaningfully challenge the district court’s decision, both in the district court and in the appellate court?