Brown v. Davenport

Decided April 21, 2022. Neil M. Gorsuch delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 20-826 · 596 U.S. 118 (2022) · Cited 456 times

Holding

When a state court has ruled on the merits of a state prisoner’s claim, a federal court cannot grant habeas relief without applying both the test this Court outlined in Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U. S. 619, and the one Congress prescribed in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996; the Sixth Circuit erred in granting habeas relief to Mr. Davenport based solely on its assessment that he could satisfy the Brecht standard.

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 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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.

• Fry v. Pliler · 551 U.S. 112 (2007)
• Brecht v. Abrahamson · 507 U.S. 619 (1993)
• Davis v. Ayala · 576 U.S. 257 (2015)
• Chapman v. California · 386 U.S. 18 (1967)
• Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
• Deck v. Missouri · 544 U.S. 622 (2005)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• Holbrook v. Flynn · 475 U.S. 560 (1986)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Wright v. West · 505 U.S. 277 (1992)
• Ex Parte Lange · 85 U.S. 163 (1874)
• Nielsen · 131 U.S. 176 (1889)
• Harrington v. Richter · 562 U.S. 86 (2011)
• Johnson v. Zerbst · 304 U.S. 458 (1938)
• Cullen v. Pinholster · 563 U.S. 170 (2011)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• O'NEAL v. McAninch · 513 U.S. 432 (1995)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• Greene v. Fisher · 565 U.S. 34 (2011)
• Ex Parte Bollman and Swartwout · 8 U.S. 75 (1807)
• Ex Parte Wilson · 114 U.S. 417 (1885)
• Medley · 134 U.S. 160 (1890)
• Horn v. Banks · 536 U.S. 266 (2002)
• Schneckloth v. Bustamonte · 412 U.S. 218 (1973)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
• Lockyer v. Andrade · 538 U.S. 63 (2003)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Yarborough v. Alvarado · 541 U.S. 652 (2004)
• Lafler v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 156 (2012)

Cited by

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

• SEC v. Jarkesy · 603 U.S. 109 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2022). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).