Charlton Green was convicted in Georgia of failing to register as a sex offender based on an earlier sodomy conviction. He later argued that counsel was ineffective for failing to contend that the sodomy conviction had been nullified by the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v Texas. The Georgia courts rejected the claim, but the federal district court granted habeas relief under section 2254 after concluding that counsel’s omission had prejudiced Green. The Eleventh Circuit reversed. It held that the federal court had improperly second-guessed the Georgia Court of Appeals on a question of state law concerning the procedural vehicle required to attack the earlier conviction. Under the state court’s interpretation, Green could not use the failure-to-register appeal as a collateral attack on the sodomy conviction and would have needed a separate habeas proceeding. Because an objection based on Lawrence would have been futile in the state proceeding, Green could not establish Strickland prejudice. The court reversed the district court and denied the habeas petition.