Arthur Calderon, Warden v. Russell Coleman
Decided December 14, 1998. The Court ruled per curiam — an unsigned opinion of the Court.
Docket 98-437 · 525 U.S. 141 (1998) · Cited 307 times
Holding
The Ninth Circuit erred by failing to apply Brecht’s harmless-error analysis.
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 5–4.
Majority · 5
Dissenting · 4
- David Hackett Souter
- John Paul Stevens · filed a dissenting opinion
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
“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.
- Brecht v. Abrahamson · 507 U.S. 619 (1993)
- Boyde v. California · 494 U.S. 370 (1990)
- O'NEAL v. McAninch · 513 U.S. 432 (1995)
- Kotteakos v. United States · 328 U.S. 750 (1946)
- Simmons v. South Carolina · 512 U.S. 154 (1994)
- Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
- Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
- Penry v. Lynaugh · 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
- California v. Ramos · 463 U.S. 992 (1983)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Fry v. Pliler · 551 U.S. 112 (2007)
- Davis v. Ayala · 576 U.S. 257 (2015)
- Brown v. Davenport · 596 U.S. 118 (2022)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1998). 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).