Erick Cornell Clay v. United States

Decided March 4, 2003. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 01-1500 · 537 U.S. 522 (2003) · Cited 1,159 times

Holding

For the purpose of starting the clock on § 2255’s one-year limitation period, a judgment of conviction becomes final when the time expires for filing a petition for certiorari contesting the appellate court’s affirmation of the conviction.

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.

• Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
• Griffith v. Kentucky · 479 U.S. 314 (1987)
• Linkletter v. Walker · 381 U.S. 618 (1965)
• Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance · 517 U.S. 706 (1996)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Artuz v. Bennett · 531 U.S. 4 (2000)
• United States v. Johnson · 457 U.S. 537 (1982)
• Caspari v. Bohlen · 510 U.S. 383 (1994)
• United States v. Wells · 519 U.S. 482 (1997)
• City of Columbus v. Ours Garage & Wrecker Service, Inc. · 536 U.S. 424 (2002)

Cited by

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

• Lawrence v. Florida · 549 U.S. 327 (2007)
• Edwards v. Vannoy · 593 U.S. 255 (2021)
• Coleman v. Tollefson · 575 U.S. 532 (2015)
• Jimenez v. Quarterman · 555 U.S. 113 (2009)
• Dodd v. United States · 545 U.S. 353 (2005)
• Riley v. Bondi · 606 U.S. 259 (2025)
• Kemp v. United States · 596 U.S. 528 (2022)
• Beard v. Banks · 542 U.S. 406 (2004)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2003). 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).