231 F. Supp. 2d 586 - Williams v. Jones’s Empirical Analysis
2002
Citation profile
1 state decisions
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)
Relies on Jackson v. Virginia · Williams v. Taylor · In the Matter of Samuel Winship · North Carolina v. Pearce · Coleman v. Thompson
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“In short, unlike in Simpson and Burroughs , the state courts below the supreme court never invoked a procedural bar here, but rather repeatedly ruled on the merits. The procedural circumstances in this ease are, therefore, materially different from those in Simpson and Burroughs , where the lower state courts actually invoked a procedural bar, making it clearer that the Michigan Supreme Court was also invoking such a bar when it referred to M.C.R. 6.508(D). But given that all of the lower state courts adjudicated Abela’s case on the merits, it is not at all clear that the Michigan Supreme Court’s summary order relies on a procedural bar, as opposed to the non-procedural reason that Abela simply failed to meet his burden of “establishing entitlement to the relief requested.” Indeed, given the line of prior merits determinations in Abela’s case, it is just as reasonable to presume that the Michigan Supreme Court’s reference to M.C.R. 6.508(D) signaled its agreement with the lower courts’ merits determinations as it is to presume that the reference signaled, for the first time in this case, the invocation of a procedural bar. In short, the procedural facts of Simpson and Burroughs are distinguishable from our case. The facts in Simpson and Burroughs inspired greater certainty that the Michigan Supreme Court actually relied on a procedural bar in rendering its judgment. No such clarifying indicators are present here. Moreover, Simpson and Burroughs do not purport to eviscerate ou”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.