Jill L. Brown, Warden v. William Charles Payton
Decided March 22, 2005. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 03-1039 · 544 U.S. 133 (2005) · Cited 973 times
Holding
The Ninth Circuit’s decision was contrary to the limits on federal habeas review imposed by AEDPA.
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 5–3.
Majority · 2
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Sandra Day O'Connor
Concurring · 3
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- Clarence Thomas
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 3
- David Hackett Souter · filed a dissenting opinion
- John Paul Stevens
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“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.
- Boyde v. California · 494 U.S. 370 (1990)
- Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
- Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
- Penry v. Lynaugh · 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
- Penry v. Johnson · 532 U.S. 782 (2001)
- Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
- Lockyer v. Andrade · 538 U.S. 63 (2003)
- Skipper v. South Carolina · 476 U.S. 1 (1986)
- Woodford v. Garceau · 538 U.S. 202 (2003)
- Brecht v. Abrahamson · 507 U.S. 619 (1993)
- Woodford v. Visciotti · 537 U.S. 19 (2002)
- Early v. Packer · 537 U.S. 3 (2002)
- Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
- Bollenbach v. United States · 326 U.S. 607 (1946)
- Quercia v. United States · 289 U.S. 466 (1933)
- Sparf v. United States · 156 U.S. 51 (1895)
- Carter v. Kentucky · 450 U.S. 288 (1981)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Ayers v. Belmontes · 549 U.S. 7 (2006)
- Brewer v. Quarterman · 550 U.S. 286 (2007)
- Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman · 550 U.S. 233 (2007)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2005). 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).