Wilson v. Sellers

Decided April 17, 2018. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 16-6855 · 584 U.S. 122 (2018) · Cited 1,836 times

Holding

A federal habeas court reviewing an unexplained state-court decision on the merits should “look through” that decision to the last related state-court decision that provides a relevant rationale and presume that the unexplained decision adopted the same reasoning; the State may rebut the presumption by showing that the unexplained decision most likely relied on different grounds than the reasoned decision below.

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 6–3.

“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).

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.

• Ylst v. Nunnemaker · 501 U.S. 797 (1991)
• Harrington v. Richter · 562 U.S. 86 (2011)
• Premo v. Moore · 562 U.S. 115 (2011)
• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Wood v. Milyard · 566 U.S. 463 (2012)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Wiggins v. Smith, Warden · 539 U.S. 510 (2003)
• Cullen v. Pinholster · 563 U.S. 170 (2011)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp. · 318 U.S. 80 (1943)
• McQuiggin v. Perkins · 569 U.S. 383 (2013)
• Baldwin v. Reese · 541 U.S. 27 (2004)
• Rompilla v. Beard · 545 U.S. 374 (2005)
• Day v. McDonough · 547 U.S. 198 (2006)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Granberry v. Greer · 481 U.S. 129 (1987)
• Porter v. McCollum · 558 U.S. 30 (2009)
• Greene v. Fisher · 565 U.S. 34 (2011)
• Mandel v. Bradley · 432 U.S. 173 (1977)
• Sears v. Upton · 561 U.S. 945 (2010)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2018). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).