2025 term · Roberts Court · 5-4
Pitchford v. Cain
608 U.S. 391
The record
- Term
- 2025
- Decided
- Issue area
- —
- Vote split
- 5-4
- Winning party
- —
- Decision direction
- —
- Chief Justice
- Roberts Court
- Disposition
- —
- Docket
- 24-7351
- U.S. Reports
- 608 U.S. 391
- S. Ct. citation
- —
- LEXIS citation
- —
- Opinion by
- Brett Kavanaugh
Holding
In Pitchford’s direct appeal of a capital murder sentence, the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably applied the clearly established precedents of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79, to determine that Pitchford waived his opportunity to rebut the prosecutor’s asserted race-neutral reasons for the peremptory strikes of four black prospective jurors.
How the bench divided
MMMMMDDDD
M 5 majorityD 4 dissenting
| Justice | Vote |
|---|---|
| Brett Kavanaugh | Majority |
| John G. Roberts | Majority |
| Sonia Sotomayor | Majority |
| Elena Kagan | Majority |
| Ketanji Brown Jackson | Majority |
| Neil Gorsuch | Dissent |
| Clarence Thomas | Dissent |
| Samuel Alito | Dissent |
| Amy Coney Barrett | Dissent |
Read the opinion
- supremecourt.govSlip opinionThe opinion as released by the Court, in slip form.
- JustiaFull opinion textThe majority, concurring and dissenting opinions as handed down.
- supremecourt.govDocket 24-7351Filings, orders and the procedural history on the Court’s own docket.
- OyezCase pageArgument audio and the vote lineup, when Oyez has published them.