McCleskey v. Zant

499 U.S. 467 · Decided April 16, 1991 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

McCleskey v. Zant was decided on April 16, 1991 by a vote of 6–3. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. 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

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

McCleskey v. Zant, Superintendent, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center

SCDB identifiers: case 1990-059, docket 1990-059-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Habeas corpus”

• Jimmie Burden, Jr. v. Walter Zant
  498 U.S. 433Decided February 19, 19919–0Per curiam
• Roger Keith Coleman v. Charles E. ThompsonAltered precedent
  501 U.S. 722Decided June 24, 19916–3Sandra Day O'Connor
• Eddie S. Ylst v. Owen Duane Nunnemaker
  501 U.S. 797Decided June 24, 19916–3Antonin Scalia
• Sawyer v. Smith
  497 U.S. 227Decided June 21, 19905–4Anthony M. Kennedy
• James R. Stringer v. Lee Roy Black
  503 U.S. 222Decided March 9, 19926–3Anthony M. Kennedy
• J. C. Keeney v. Jose Tamayo-ReyesAltered precedent
  504 U.S. 1Decided May 4, 19925–4Byron R. White

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241–2255 (habeas corpus)

• Kimmelman v. Morrison
  477 U.S. 365Decided June 26, 19869–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Vasquez v. Hillery
  474 U.S. 254Decided January 14, 19866–3Thurgood Marshall
• Daniel Greene v. Georgia
  519 U.S. 145Decided December 16, 19969–0Per curiam
• Wainwright v. Witt
  469 U.S. 412Decided January 21, 19857–2William H. Rehnquist
• Antone v. Dugger
  465 U.S. 200Decided January 25, 19847–2Per curiam
• Barefoot v. Estelle
  463 U.S. 880Decided July 6, 19836–3Byron R. White

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Robert Lee Shell v. Mississippi
  498 U.S. 1Decided October 29, 19908–0Per curiam
• Tommy Cage v. Louisiana
  498 U.S. 39Decided November 13, 19909–0Per curiam
• R. Dobie Langenkamp v. C. A. Culp
  498 U.S. 42Decided November 13, 19908–0Per curiam
• Raymond J. Moskal, Sr. v. United States
  498 U.S. 103Decided December 3, 19905–3Thurgood Marshall
• Robert S. Minnick v. Mississippi
  498 U.S. 146Decided December 3, 19906–2Anthony M. Kennedy
• Richard Demarest v. James
  498 U.S. 184Decided January 8, 19919–0William H. Rehnquist

See all

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