Blackledge, Warden, et al. v. Allison

Decided May 2, 1977. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-1693 · 431 U.S. 63 (1977) · Cited 3,882 times

Holding

In light of the nature of the record of the proceeding at which the guilty plea was accepted, and of the ambiguous status of the process of plea bargaining at the time the guilty plea was made, respondent's petition for a writ of habeas corpus should not have been summarily dismissed.

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 8–0.

“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.

• Santobello v. New York · 404 U.S. 257 (1971)
• MacHibroda v. United States · 368 U.S. 487 (1962)
• Fontaine v. United States · 411 U.S. 213 (1973)
• Price v. Johnston · 334 U.S. 266 (1948)
• Brady v. United States · 397 U.S. 742 (1970)
• Sanders v. United States · 373 U.S. 1 (1963)
• Harris v. Nelson · 394 U.S. 286 (1969)
• Pennsylvania Ex Rel. Herman v. Claudy · 350 U.S. 116 (1956)
• Schneckloth v. Bustamonte · 412 U.S. 218 (1973)
• McMann v. Richardson · 397 U.S. 759 (1970)
• Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
• Hill v. United States · 368 U.S. 424 (1962)
• United States v. Hayman · 342 U.S. 205 (1952)
• Walker v. Johnston · 312 U.S. 275 (1941)
• Swain v. Pressley · 430 U.S. 372 (1977)
• Waley v. Johnston · 316 U.S. 101 (1942)
• Wingo v. Wedding · 418 U.S. 461 (1974)

Cited by

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

• Bordenkircher v. Hayes · 434 U.S. 357 (1978)
• Heckler v. Chaney · 470 U.S. 821 (1985)
• Mabry v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 504 (1984)
• Hankerson v. North Carolina · 432 U.S. 233 (1977)
• Corbitt v. New Jersey · 439 U.S. 212 (1978)
• Ricketts v. Adamson · 483 U.S. 1 (1987)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1977). 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).