Amadeo v. Zant

Decided May 31, 1988. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-5277 · 486 U.S. 214 (1988) · Cited 361 times

Holding

The factual findings upon which the District Court based its conclusion that petitioner had established cause for his procedural default were not clearly erroneous and should not have been set aside by the Court of Appeals.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Reed v. Ross · 468 U.S. 1 (1984)
• Anderson v. City of Bessemer City · 470 U.S. 564 (1985)
• Murray v. Carrier · 477 U.S. 478 (1986)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Francis v. Henderson · 425 U.S. 536 (1976)
• Swain v. Alabama · 380 U.S. 202 (1965)
• Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. · 456 U.S. 844 (1982)
• United States v. Yellow Cab Co. · 338 U.S. 338 (1949)
• Icicle Seafoods, Inc. v. Worthington · 475 U.S. 709 (1986)
• Washington v. Confederated Bands & Tribes of the Yakima Indian Nation · 439 U.S. 463 (1979)
• Wade v. Mayo · 334 U.S. 672 (1948)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Strickler v. Greene · 527 U.S. 263 (1999)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• Banks v. Dretke · 540 U.S. 668 (2004)
• Murray v. Giarratano · 492 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Dugger v. Adams · 489 U.S. 401 (1989)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).