Granberry v. Greer, Warden

Decided April 21, 1987. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-6790 · 481 U.S. 129 (1987) · Cited 1,175 times

Holding

Where the State fails to raise an arguably meritorious nonexhaustion defense in the district court, the court of appeals should exercise discretion in each case to determine whether the interests of comity and federalism, and the interests of justice, will be better served by addressing the merits forthwith or by requiring a series of additional state and district court proceedings before reviewing the petitioner's claim.

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.

• Frisbie v. Collins · 342 U.S. 519 (1952)
• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Murray v. Carrier · 477 U.S. 478 (1986)
• Rose v. Lundy · 455 U.S. 509 (1982)
• Smith v. Murray · 477 U.S. 527 (1986)
• National Farmers Union Insurance v. Crow Tribe of Indians · 471 U.S. 845 (1985)
• Iowa Mutual Insurance v. LaPlante · 480 U.S. 9 (1987)
• Ex Parte Hawk · 321 U.S. 114 (1944)
• United States Ex Rel. Kennedy v. Tyler · 269 U.S. 13 (1925)
• Marino v. Ragen · 332 U.S. 561 (1947)

Cited by

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

• Wood v. Milyard · 566 U.S. 463 (2012)
• Day v. McDonough · 547 U.S. 198 (2006)
• Panetti v. Quarterman · 551 U.S. 930 (2007)
• Greenlaw v. United States · 554 U.S. 237 (2008)
• Castille v. Peoples · 489 U.S. 346 (1989)
• Trest v. Cain · 522 U.S. 87 (1997)
• Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
• Wilson v. Sellers · 584 U.S. 122 (2018)
• United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Espinosa · 559 U.S. 260 (2010)
• Banks v. Dretke · 540 U.S. 668 (2004)

Official text

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

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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1987). 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).