Jackson v. Virginia et al.

Decided June 27, 1979. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-5283 · 443 U.S. 307 (1979) · Cited 79,490 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 8–0.

“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.

• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Thompson v. City of Louisville · 362 U.S. 199 (1960)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• Glasser v. United States · 315 U.S. 60 (1942)
• Mullaney v. Wilbur · 421 U.S. 684 (1975)
• Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
• Johnson v. Louisiana · 406 U.S. 356 (1972)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Holland v. United States · 348 U.S. 121 (1954)
• Patterson v. New York · 432 U.S. 197 (1977)
• Lego v. Twomey · 404 U.S. 477 (1972)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Woodby v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 385 U.S. 276 (1966)
• Adderley v. Florida · 385 U.S. 39 (1966)
• Bronston v. United States · 409 U.S. 352 (1973)
• Gregory v. City of Chicago · 394 U.S. 111 (1969)
• Cool v. United States · 409 U.S. 100 (1972)
• Douglas v. Buder · 412 U.S. 430 (1973)
• Vachon v. New Hampshire · 414 U.S. 478 (1974)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Townsend v. Sain · 372 U.S. 293 (1963)
• Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Addington v. Texas · 441 U.S. 418 (1979)
• Drope v. Missouri · 420 U.S. 162 (1975)
• Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Estelle v. Williams · 425 U.S. 501 (1976)
• Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville · 405 U.S. 156 (1972)

Cited by

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

• Wright v. West · 505 U.S. 277 (1992)
• McDaniel v. Brown · 558 U.S. 120 (2010)
• Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
• Herrera v. Collins · 506 U.S. 390 (1993)
• Justices of Boston Municipal Court v. Lydon · 466 U.S. 294 (1984)
• Musacchio v. United States · 577 U.S. 237 (2016)
• Tibbs v. Florida · 457 U.S. 31 (1982)
• Lewis v. Jeffers · 497 U.S. 764 (1990)
• Coleman v. Johnson · 566 U.S. 650 (2012)
• Cavazos v. Smith · 565 U.S. 1 (2011)
• Withrow v. Williams · 507 U.S. 680 (1993)
• Dretke v. Haley · 541 U.S. 386 (2004)
• Victor v. Nebraska · 511 U.S. 1 (1994)
• Bufkin v. Collins · 604 U.S. 369 (2025)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• United States v. Powell · 469 U.S. 57 (1984)
• Davila v. Davis · 582 U.S. 521 (2017)
• Manuel v. City of Joliet · 580 U.S. 357 (2017)
• Davis v. Ayala · 576 U.S. 257 (2015)
• Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• House v. Bell · 547 U.S. 518 (2006)
• Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
• Parker v. Matthews · 567 U.S. 37 (2012)
• Reed v. Farley · 512 U.S. 339 (1994)
• Harris v. Rivera · 454 U.S. 339 (1981)
• Fiore v. White · 531 U.S. 225 (2001)
• Harrington v. Richter · 562 U.S. 86 (2011)
• Brecht v. Abrahamson · 507 U.S. 619 (1993)
• Arizona v. Fulminante · 499 U.S. 279 (1991)

Official text

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

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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).