Jesse Jay Montejo v. Louisiana
556 U.S. 778 · Decided May 26, 2009 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Jesse Jay Montejo v. Louisiana was decided on May 26, 2009 by a vote of 5–4. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Right to counsel” in the Criminal Procedure area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 556 U.S. 778 · 129 S. Ct. 2079 · 173 L. Ed. 2d 955 · 2009 U.S. LEXIS 3973
- Docket number
- 07-1529
- Decided
- May 26, 2009
- Argued
- January 13, 2009
- Court era
- Roberts Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- Antonin Scalia
- Opinion assigned by
- John G. Roberts Jr.
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Right to counsel
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- Sixth Amendment (right to counsel)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Altered precedent
- Yes — formally altered the Court's precedent
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Concurrence | |
| Justice David H. Souter | Dissent | |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Majority | |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Dissent | |
| Justice Stephen G. Breyer | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
Full case caption
Jesse Jay Montejo v. Louisiana
SCDB identifiers: case 2008-059, docket 2008-059-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Right to counsel”
- Jose Padilla v. Kentucky
- Indiana v. Edwards
- Demarcus Ali Sears v. Stephen Upton
- Randall Wright v. Joseph L. Van Patten
- United States v. Cuauhtemoc Gonzalez-Lopez
- Ronald Rompilla v. Jeffrey A. Beard
Cases on the same legal provision: Sixth Amendment (right to counsel)
- Robert Wong v. Fernando Belmontes, Jr.
- Rothgery v. Gillespie County
- Blaine Lafler v. Anthony Cooper
- Missouri v. Galin E. Frye
- Deborah K. Johnson v. Tara Sheneva Williams
- Roselva Chaidez v. United States
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- James Eric Moore v. United States
- Anthony Hedgpeth v. Michael Robert Pulido
- Deondery Chambers v. United States
- Bennie Dean Herring v. United States
- Oregon v. Thomas Eugene Ice
- Doug Waddington v. Cesar Sarausad
Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error