Lowell

Patrick Alan Lowell, a California state prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. On April 24, 1996, while Lowell’s request for a certificate of probable cause (CPC) was pending in this court, the President signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (the Act). Section 102 of the Act amends 28 U.S.C. § 2253 to require a certificate of ap-pealability (COA), instead of a CPC as required under pre-Act law. See Section 102 (amending 28 U.S.C. § 2253 ). Section 2253(c)(2) as amended provides that a COA may issue only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a “constitutional” right. See id.; cf. Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 892-93 , 103 S.Ct. 3383, 3394-95 , 77 L.Ed.2d 1090 (1983) (CPC may issue upon substantial showing of denial of *1359 “federal” right). We granted a CPC in this case for the limited purpose of obtaining briefing on the following issues: (1) whether a COA is required in pending cases in which the notice of appeal was filed pre-Act but no CPC had issued as of the Act’s enactment date; and, if so, (2) the standard for issuance of a COA.

In Williams v. Calderon, we indicated that…