new ruling
new ruling. Criminal procedure. A Supreme Court ruling not dictated by precedent existing when the defendant’s conviction became final and thus not applicable retroactively to habeas cases. • For example, when the Court in Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399, 106 S.Ct. 2595 (1986), ruled that the Eighth Amendment prohibits execution of insane prisoners, this new ruling was nonretroactive because it departed so widely from prior doctrine. Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 109 S.Ct. 1060 (1989). See HABEAS CORPUS. [Cases: Courts 100(1). C.J.S. Courts §§ 147–148.]
