Holly Wood, Petitioner v. Richard F. Allen, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al.
Decided January 20, 2010. Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 08-9156 · 558 U.S. 290 (2010) · Cited 1,388 times
Holding
Section 1252(a)(2)(B)’s proscription of judicial review applies only to Attorney General determinations made discretionary by statute, not to determinations declared discretionary by the Attorney General himself through regulation.
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 7–2.
Majority · 7
- Sonia Sotomayor · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 2
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- John Paul Stevens · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
- Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
- Rice v. Collins · 546 U.S. 333 (2006)
- Wiggins v. Smith, Warden · 539 U.S. 510 (2003)
- Atkins v. Virginia · 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
- Tennard v. Dretke, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division · 542 U.S. 274 (2004)
- Rompilla v. Beard · 545 U.S. 374 (2005)
- Yee v. City of Escondido · 503 U.S. 519 (1992)
- Izumi Seimitsu Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha v. U. S. Philips Corp. · 510 U.S. 27 (1993)
- Porter v. McCollum · 558 U.S. 30 (2009)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Brumfield v. Cain · 576 U.S. 305 (2015)
- Burt v. Titlow · 571 U.S. 12 (2013)
- Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
- Jefferson v. Upton · 560 U.S. 284 (2010)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2010). 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).