The following excerpt is from Tabron v. Hood, 42 F.3d 1402 (9th Cir. 1994):
A federal court may review a constitutional claim brought by a state prisoner only if available state remedies have been exhausted. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(b); Johnson v. Lewis, 929 F.2d 460, 463 (9th Cir.1991). If the constitutional claim could have been raised in state court but was not, and is now barred by a state procedural rule, the claim is procedurally defaulted. Id.
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