Strickland v. Washington
- Decided
- June 25, 1984
- Docket
- 82-1554
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 123,578 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- concluding that counsel could "reasonably surmise . . . that character and psychological evidence would be of little help" — Wiggins v. Smith, Warden (2003)
- holding that prejudice requires "a reasonable probability that, absent the errors, the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting guilt." — (untitled) (1997)
- concluding that an ineffective assistance of counsel claim is a mixed question of law and fact — Francis Ordean Reese v. Thomas A. Fulcomer (1991)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*671] Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.
This ease requires us to consider the proper standards for judging a criminal defendant’s contention that the Constitution requires a conviction or death sentence to be set aside because counsel’s assistance at the trial or sentencing was ineffective.
I
Statutes cited
Cite this
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)Read the full opinion
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