Joseph Massaro v. United States
538 U.S. 500 · Decided April 23, 2003 · 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
Joseph Massaro v. United States was decided on April 23, 2003 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Habeas corpus” in the Criminal Procedure area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 538 U.S. 500 · 123 S. Ct. 1690 · 155 L. Ed. 2d 714 · 2003 U.S. LEXIS 3243
- Docket number
- 01-1559
- Decided
- April 23, 2003
- Argued
- February 25, 2003
- Court era
- Rehnquist Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 9–0 (unanimous)
- Majority opinion
- Anthony M. Kennedy
- Opinion assigned by
- William H. Rehnquist
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Habeas corpus
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241–2255 (habeas corpus)
- Type of law
- Federal statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist | Majority | |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Majority | |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Majority | |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority | |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice David H. Souter | Majority | |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Majority | |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Majority | |
| Justice Stephen G. Breyer | Majority |
Full case caption
Joseph Massaro v. United States
SCDB identifiers: case 2002-046, docket 2002-046-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Habeas corpus”
- Janette Price v. Duyonn Andre Vincent
- Jeanne Woodford v. Robert Frederick Garceau
- Bill Lockyer v. Leandro Andrade
- Erick Cornell Clay v. United States
- Thomas Joe Miller-El v. Janie Cockrell
- Abu-Ali Abdur'rahman v. Ricky Bell
Cases on the same legal provision: 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241–2255 (habeas corpus)
- George H. Baldwin v. Michael Reese
- Michael Yarborough v. Michael Alvarado
- Ricky Bell v. Gary Bradford Cone
- Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Enrico St. Cyr
- Deboris Calcano-Martinez v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
- Jill L. Brown v. William Charles Payton
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- Richard E. Early v. William Packer
- Jeanne Woodford v. John Louis Visciotti
- Abu-Ali Abdur'rahman v. Ricky Bell
- David Allen Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania
- United States v. Francisco Jimenez Recio and Adrian Lopez-Meza
- Thomas Joe Miller-El v. Janie Cockrell
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