Harris v. McAdory’s Empirical Analysis
334 F.3d 665 · 2003
Citation profile
9 federal appellate · 3 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 26 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2022 · most notably Davis v. Lambert (2004), Bintz v. Bertrand (2005)
9 federal appellate · 3 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)
Relies on Coleman v. Thompson · Murray v. Carrier · Atkins v. Virginia · Michael Wayne Williams v. John Taylor Warden · Tacho v. Martinez
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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“We have never considered whether mental illness can constitute cause for default. However, Cawley v. DeTella, 71 F.3d 691 (7th Cir.1995), is instructive on this question. In Cawley , we held that the petitioner’s depression did not constitute cause because it failed “to qualify as an external impediment.” Id. at 696 . We are also guided by other circuits that have considered the issue. In Hull v. Freeman, 991 F.2d 86 (3d Cir.1993), the Third Circuit determined that petitioner’s borderline mental retardation did not establish cause because it was not “external” to his defense within the meaning of Murray v. Carrier, [ 477 U.S. 478, 488 , 106 S.Ct. 2639 , 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986)]. [Hull,] 991 F.2d at 91 . The Ninth Circuit, in Tacho v. Martinez, 862 F.2d 1376, 1381 (9th Cir.1988), held that petitioner’s diagnosis as a “borderline mental defective” was insufficient to establish cause. See also Cornman v. Armontrout, 959 F.2d 727, 729 (8th Cir.1992) (finding petitioner’s below average intelligence insufficient to establish cause). Furthermore, it is well established in this Circuit that circumstances such as youth, lack of education, and illiteracy are not external impediments within the context of excusing procedural default. See, e.g., Dellinger v. Bowen, 301 F.3d 758, 763 (7th Cir.2002) (petitioner’s youth and lack of education did not constitute cause); Henderson v. Cohn, 919 F.2d 1270, 1272-73 (7th Cir.1990) (petitioner’s illiteracy and limited education insufficient to establ”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“Harris’ reliance on Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 , 122 S.Ct. 2242 , 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002) is misplaced. The court in Atkins held that the Eighth Amendment precludes capital punishment for mentally retarded defendants. The case sub judice is distinguishable because Harris is borderline mentally retarded, and more importantly this is not a capital case. A cursory glance at Atkins reveals that the court was addressing the issue of mental retardation solely in the context of capital punishment.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Williams v. State
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.