Thomas L. Carey, Warden v. Mathew Musladin

Decided December 11, 2006. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 05-785 · 549 U.S. 70 (2006) · Cited 1,245 times

Holding

The Ninth Circuit improperly concluded that the California Court of Appeal’s decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law as determined by this Court.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Holbrook v. Flynn · 475 U.S. 560 (1986)
• Estelle v. Williams · 425 U.S. 501 (1976)
• Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
• Sheppard v. Maxwell · 384 U.S. 333 (1966)
• Estes v. Texas · 381 U.S. 532 (1965)
• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Yarborough v. Alvarado · 541 U.S. 652 (2004)
• Moore v. Dempsey · 261 U.S. 86 (1923)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Crawford v. Washington · 541 U.S. 36 (2004)
• Lockyer v. Andrade · 538 U.S. 63 (2003)
• Wright v. West · 505 U.S. 277 (1992)
• Rideau v. Louisiana · 373 U.S. 723 (1963)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Turner v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 466 (1965)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 559 (1965)
• Tyler v. Cain · 533 U.S. 656 (2001)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• Wood v. Georgia · 370 U.S. 375 (1962)

Cited by

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

• Wright v. Van Patten · 552 U.S. 120 (2008)
• Knowles v. Mirzayance · 556 U.S. 111 (2009)
• White v. Woodall · 572 U.S. 415 (2014)
• McWilliams v. Dunn · 582 U.S. 183 (2017)
• Panetti v. Quarterman · 551 U.S. 930 (2007)
• Fry v. Pliler · 551 U.S. 112 (2007)
• Cavazos v. Smith · 565 U.S. 1 (2011)
• Woods v. Donald · 575 U.S. 312 (2015)
• Smith v. Spisak · 558 U.S. 139 (2010)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2006). 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).