Picard v. Connor

Decided December 20, 1971. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-96 · 404 U.S. 270 (1971) · Cited 5,124 times

Holding

The substance of a federal habeas corpus claim must in the first instance be fairly presented to the state courts, and since on the record and argument before it the State's highest court had no fair opportunity to consider and act upon the equal protection claim, the Court of Appeals erred in holding that respondent had exhausted his state remedies.

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 6–1.

“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.

• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
• Darr v. Burford · 339 U.S. 200 (1950)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Powell v. Alabama · 287 U.S. 45 (1932)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• Douglas v. California · 372 U.S. 353 (1963)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Sanders v. United States · 373 U.S. 1 (1963)
• Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
• Ex Parte Hawk · 321 U.S. 114 (1944)
• Bowen v. Johnston · 306 U.S. 19 (1939)
• Roberts v. LaVallee · 389 U.S. 40 (1967)
• Davis v. Burke · 179 U.S. 399 (1900)
• Nelson v. George · 399 U.S. 224 (1970)
• Irvin v. Dowd · 359 U.S. 394 (1959)

Cited by

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

• Duncan v. Henry · 513 U.S. 364 (1995)
• Anderson v. Harless · 459 U.S. 4 (1982)
• Smith v. Goguen · 415 U.S. 566 (1974)
• Rose v. Lundy · 455 U.S. 509 (1982)
• Engle v. Isaac · 456 U.S. 107 (1982)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Gray v. Netherland · 518 U.S. 152 (1996)
• Duckworth v. Serrano · 454 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Pitchess v. Davis · 421 U.S. 482 (1975)
• O'Sullivan v. Boerckel · 526 U.S. 838 (1999)
• Stanley v. Illinois · 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
• Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
• Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
• Baldwin v. Reese · 541 U.S. 27 (2004)
• Miller-El v. Dretke · 545 U.S. 231 (2005)
• Castille v. Peoples · 489 U.S. 346 (1989)
• Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes · 504 U.S. 1 (1992)
• Humphrey v. Cady · 405 U.S. 504 (1972)
• Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal · 523 U.S. 637 (1998)
• Murray v. Giarratano · 492 U.S. 1 (1989)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1971). 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).