Lee v. Kemna

Summary

Justice Ginsburg, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, and Breyer, held that Missouri's procedural requirements for continuance motions were inadequate to bar federal habeas review in the exceptional circumstances of Lee's case. Perfect compliance would not have addressed the trial judge's stated scheduling reasons for denying a continuance, no published Missouri decision required strict compliance in comparable circumstances, and Lee substantially supplied the information the rules required. The Court vacated the Eighth Circuit's judgment and remanded for consideration of Lee's due process claim on the merits, without deciding that claim or his alternative arguments concerning cause, prejudice, and actual innocence. Justice Kennedy, joined by Justices Scalia and Thomas, dissented, arguing that the governing rule served legitimate state interests, that Lee had not substantially satisfied its requirements, and that the majority's case-specific approach undermined federalism. He would have affirmed.