Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado

Decided March 6, 2017. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 15-606 · 580 U.S. 206 (2017) · Cited 326 times

Holding

Where a juror makes a clear statement indicating that he or she relied on racial stereotypes or animus to convict a criminal defendant, the Sixth Amendment requires that the no-impeachment rule give way in order to permit the trial court to consider the evidence of the juror's statement and any resulting denial of the jury trial guarantee.

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.

“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.

• Tanner v. United States · 483 U.S. 107 (1987)
• McDonald v. Pless · 238 U.S. 264 (1915)
• United States v. Reid · 53 U.S. 361 (1852)
• Rosales-Lopez v. United States · 451 U.S. 182 (1981)
• Turner v. Murray · 476 U.S. 28 (1986)
• Apprendi v. New Jersey · 530 U.S. 466 (2000)
• Holmes v. South Carolina · 547 U.S. 319 (2006)
• Clyde Mattox v. United States · 146 U.S. 140 (1892)
• Ristaino v. Ross · 424 U.S. 589 (1976)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Engle v. Isaac · 456 U.S. 107 (1982)
• Powers v. Ohio · 499 U.S. 400 (1991)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• City of New Orleans v. Dukes · 427 U.S. 297 (1976)
• United States v. Armstrong · 517 U.S. 456 (1996)
• Castaneda v. Partida · 430 U.S. 482 (1977)
• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• Strauder v. West Virginia · 100 U.S. 303 (1880)
• Georgia v. McCollum · 505 U.S. 42 (1992)
• Trammel v. United States · 445 U.S. 40 (1980)
• Boumediene v. Bush · 553 U.S. 723 (2008)
• Penry v. Johnson · 532 U.S. 782 (2001)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Hyde v. United States · 225 U.S. 347 (1912)
• Hernandez v. Texas · 347 U.S. 475 (1954)
• Rose v. Mitchell · 443 U.S. 545 (1979)

Cited by

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

• Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. · 587 U.S. 490 (2019)

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Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2017). 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).