Pitchford v. Cain
Decided May 28, 2026. Brett M. Kavanaugh delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 24-7351 · 608 U.S. ___ (2026)
Holding
In Pitchford’s direct appeal of a capital murder sentence, the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably applied the clearly established precedents of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79, to determine that Pitchford waived his opportunity to rebut the prosecutor’s asserted race-neutral reasons for the peremptory strikes of four black prospective jurors.
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 5–4.
Majority · 5
- John G. Roberts, Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Elena Kagan
- Brett M. Kavanaugh · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Ketanji Brown Jackson
Dissenting · 4
- Clarence Thomas
- Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
- Neil M. Gorsuch · filed a dissenting opinion
- Amy Coney Barrett
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).
Official text
Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2026). Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).