Nirider and Drizin are far better at explaining all of this, but let me try for the sake of enjoying some new legal info: In 1996, U.S. congress signed AEDPA (the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act), an anti-terrorist piece of legislation that changed habeas corpus procedure, into law. In blunt terms, AEDPA made it harder to use your legal right to habeas corpus. It was a response to the Oklahoma City bomber, and a violent one at that: It served to ensure that people given the death penalty met a swift end. But the bill itself, per an impassioned speech from former North Carolina representative Mel Watt, wasn’t limited to terrorism or death penalty cases. Thus, it restricted the rights of everyone, and this is why Brendan’s case is so difficult to appeal. A federal habeas appeal, Drizin says, is nearly impossible to pull off. This is all to say, Brendan’s case is a real knotty one, and that Brendan even got his verdict overturned is huge. It's as if the show wants us to know that, even if he lost his appeal, getting Brendan this close to release was impressive legal tightrope-walking.