## Facts

- Jay Shawn Johnson, a California criminal defendant, sought relief based on claims that the prosecution exercised race-based peremptory challenges in violation of Batson and California’s Wheeler doctrine.
- The California Court of Appeal reversed Johnson’s conviction on the Wheeler/Batson ground and noted additional evidentiary and prosecutorial-misconduct claims without deciding whether those claims independently required reversal.
- The California Supreme Court granted review, addressed only the Wheeler/Batson issue, reversed the Court of Appeal on that issue, and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
- The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the California Supreme Court’s Batson-related ruling.
- After briefing and oral argument, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded the state-court decision was not final for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1257 and dismissed the writ for want of jurisdiction.

## Issues

1. Whether the California Supreme Court’s decision reversing on the Wheeler/Batson issue and remanding for further proceedings constituted a “final judgment” reviewable under 28 U.S.C. § 1257.
2. Whether the case qualified for review under an exception to § 1257 finality, including the fourth category described in Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court dismissed the writ of certiorari for want of jurisdiction.
- The Court held the California Supreme Court’s decision was not a “final judgment” under § 1257 because further state proceedings were pending and other issues remained unresolved.
- The Court rejected the petitioner’s reliance on Cox’s fourth category because any asserted “erosion of federal policy” was not meaningfully different from that alleged in ordinary cases where a Batson claim is rejected.
- The Court emphasized its independent obligation to confirm compliance with § 1257 finality before reaching the merits.

## Legal Principles

- Under 28 U.S.C. § 1257, the Supreme Court generally may review only “final judgments or decrees” of the highest state court available.
- The Court must assess its own appellate jurisdiction and may dismiss if § 1257’s finality requirement is not satisfied, even after certiorari is granted.
- Limited “practical finality” exceptions exist (as identified in Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn), but they apply only in narrow circumstances.
- Cox’s fourth category does not apply absent a showing that postponing review risks “serious erosion of federal policy” beyond the generic consequences of an adverse federal ruling in state court.

## Conclusion

The Supreme Court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because the California Supreme Court’s remand order was not a final judgment under § 1257 and did not fall within a Cox exception, leaving further proceedings to continue in the California courts without a federal merits ruling on the Batson/Wheeler question.


Johnson v. California, 541 U.S. 428 (2004)