Carol Howes, Warden, Petitioner v. Randall Lee Fields
Decided February 21, 2012. Samuel A. Alito Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 10-680 · 565 U.S. 499 (2012) · Cited 785 times
We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.
How the Justices voted
Decided 6–3.
Majority · 6
- Samuel A. Alito Jr. · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas
- Elena Kagan
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
Dissenting · 3
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · filed a dissenting opinion
- Sonia Sotomayor
- 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.
- Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
- Maryland v. Shatzer · 559 U.S. 98 (2010)
- Berkemer v. McCarty · 468 U.S. 420 (1984)
- Illinois v. Perkins · 496 U.S. 292 (1990)
- Mathis v. United States · 391 U.S. 1 (1968)
- Yarborough v. Alvarado · 541 U.S. 652 (2004)
- Oregon v. Mathiason · 429 U.S. 492 (1977)
- Stansbury v. California · 511 U.S. 318 (1994)
- Edwards v. Arizona · 451 U.S. 477 (1981)
- Thompson v. Keohane · 516 U.S. 99 (1995)
- Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
- Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
- California v. Beheler · 463 U.S. 1121 (1983)
- New York v. Quarles · 467 U.S. 649 (1984)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- White v. Woodall · 572 U.S. 415 (2014)
- Vega v. Tekoh · 597 U.S. 134 (2022)
- Andrew v. White · 604 U.S. 86 (2025)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).