Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 216.0

Cite as: 558 U. S. 53 (2009) 

55 

Opinion of the Court 

Chief  Justice  Roberts  delivered  the  opinion  of  the 

Court. 

A federal habeas court will not review a claim rejected by 
a  state  court  “if  the  decision  of  [the  state]  court  rests  on  a 
state  law  ground  that  is  independent  of  the  federal  ques­
tion  and  adequate  to  support  the  judgment.”  Coleman  v. 
Thompson, 501 U. S. 722, 729 (1991).  We granted certiorari 
to  decide  the  following  question:  “Is  a  state  procedural  rule 
automatically ‘inadequate’ under the adequate-state-grounds 
doctrine—and therefore unenforceable on federal habeas cor­
pus  review—because  the  state  rule  is  discretionary  rather 
than  mandatory?”  Pet.  for  Cert.  i.  Petitioners  argue  the 
correct answer is “no.”  At oral argument, respondent—con­
sistent  with  his  position  below—expressly  agreed.  We  do 
too,  and  accordingly  vacate  the  judgment  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals. 

I 

In 1982, Joseph Kindler, along with Scott Shaw and David 
Bernstein, burglarized a music store in Bucks County, Penn­
sylvania.  Police  stopped  the  getaway  car  and  arrested 
Shaw and Bernstein.  In a harbinger of things to come, Kin­
dler  escaped.  Commonwealth  v.  Kindler,  536  Pa.  228,  236, 
639 A. 2d 1, 5, cert. denied, 513 U. S. 933 (1994). 

General of Delaware,  by Orville B. Fitch II, Deputy  Attorney General of 
New Hampshire, and by the Attorneys General for their respective States 
as  follows:  Terry  Goddard  of  Arizona,  John  W.  Suthers  of  Colorado,  Bill 
McCollum  of  Florida,  Lawrence  G.  Wasden  of  Idaho,  Gregory  F.  Zoeller 
of  Indiana,  James  D.  “Buddy”  Caldwell  of  Louisiana,  Lori  Swanson  of 
Minnesota,  Jim  Hood  of  Mississippi,  Chris  Koster  of  Missouri,  Jon  Bru­
ning of Nebraska, Gary K. King of New Mexico, Richard Cordray of Ohio, 
W. A. Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma, John R. Kroger of Oregon, Thomas 
W.  Corbett,  Jr.,  of  Pennsylvania,  Henry  D.  McMaster  of  South  Carolina, 
Robert  E.  Cooper,  Jr.,  of  Tennessee,  Mark  L.  Shurtleff  of  Utah,  William 
C.  Mims  of  Virginia,  Robert  M.  McKenna  of  Washington,  Darrell  V.  Mc­
Graw, Jr., of West Virginia, and J. B. Van Hollen of Wisconsin; and for the 
Criminal Justice Legal Foundation by Kent S. Scheidegger.