Ronald Rompilla v. Jeffrey a. Beard, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Decided June 20, 2005. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 04-5462 · 545 U.S. 374 (2005) · Cited 1,891 times

Holding

Even when a capital defendant and his family members have suggested that no mitigating evidence is available, his lawyer is bound to make reasonable efforts to obtain and review material that counsel knows the prosecution will probably rely on as evidence of aggravation at the trial’s sentencing phase.

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.

“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.

• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Wiggins v. Smith, Warden · 539 U.S. 510 (2003)
• Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
• Roe v. Flores-Ortega · 528 U.S. 470 (2000)
• Burger v. Kemp · 483 U.S. 776 (1987)
• Yarborough v. Gentry · 540 U.S. 1 (2003)
• Simmons v. South Carolina · 512 U.S. 154 (1994)
• Bell v. Cone · 535 U.S. 685 (2002)
• Lockyer v. Andrade · 538 U.S. 63 (2003)
• Woodford v. Visciotti · 537 U.S. 19 (2002)
• Early v. Packer · 537 U.S. 3 (2002)
• Mitchell v. Esparza · 540 U.S. 12 (2003)
• Middleton v. McNeil · 541 U.S. 433 (2004)
• Holland v. Jackson · 542 U.S. 649 (2004)

Cited by

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

• Andrus v. Texas · 590 U.S. 806 (2020)
• Schriro v. Landrigan · 550 U.S. 465 (2007)
• White v. Woodall · 572 U.S. 415 (2014)
• Wood v. Allen · 558 U.S. 290 (2010)
• Maryland v. Kulbicki · 577 U.S. 1 (2015)
• Chaidez v. United States · 568 U.S. 342 (2013)
• Porter v. McCollum · 558 U.S. 30 (2009)
• Ayestas v. Davis · 584 U.S. 28 (2018)
• Thornell v. Jones · 602 U.S. 154 (2024)
• Harrington v. Richter · 562 U.S. 86 (2011)
• Wilson v. Sellers · 584 U.S. 122 (2018)
• Cone v. Bell · 556 U.S. 449 (2009)
• Bobby v. Van Hook · 558 U.S. 4 (2009)
• Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon · 548 U.S. 331 (2006)
• Jefferson v. Upton · 560 U.S. 284 (2010)

Official text

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

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David Hackett Souter’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).