Murray, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections, et al. v. Giarratano et al.

Decided June 23, 1989. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-411 · 492 U.S. 1 (1989) · Cited 547 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

“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.

• Pennsylvania v. Finley · 481 U.S. 551 (1987)
• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Powell v. Alabama · 287 U.S. 45 (1932)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• Ross v. Moffitt · 417 U.S. 600 (1974)
• Ford v. Wainwright · 477 U.S. 399 (1986)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
• Douglas v. California · 372 U.S. 353 (1963)
• Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
• California v. Ramos · 463 U.S. 992 (1983)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Evitts v. Lucey · 469 U.S. 387 (1985)
• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Caldwell v. Mississippi · 472 U.S. 320 (1985)
• Beck v. Alabama · 447 U.S. 625 (1980)
• Betts v. Brady · 316 U.S. 455 (1942)
• Satterwhite v. Texas · 486 U.S. 249 (1988)
• McKane v. Durston · 153 U.S. 684 (1894)
• Lane v. Brown · 372 U.S. 477 (1963)
• Andres v. United States · 333 U.S. 740 (1948)
• Bute v. Illinois · 333 U.S. 640 (1948)
• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• Chapman v. California · 386 U.S. 18 (1967)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Penson v. Ohio · 488 U.S. 75 (1988)
• Murray v. Carrier · 477 U.S. 478 (1986)

Cited by

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

• Martinez v. Ryan · 566 U.S. 1 (2012)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Smith v. Robbins · 528 U.S. 259 (2000)
• Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodard · 523 U.S. 272 (1998)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Davila v. Davis · 582 U.S. 521 (2017)
• McFarland v. Scott · 512 U.S. 849 (1994)
• Martel v. Clair · 565 U.S. 648 (2012)
• Herrera v. Collins · 506 U.S. 390 (1993)
• Roe v. Flores-Ortega · 528 U.S. 470 (2000)
• Christopher v. Harbury · 536 U.S. 403 (2002)
• District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne · 557 U.S. 52 (2009)
• Halbert v. Michigan · 545 U.S. 605 (2005)
• Ryan v. Valencia Gonzales · 568 U.S. 57 (2013)
• Glossip v. Oklahoma · 604 U.S. 226 (2025)

Official text

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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).