| Litigants: | Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes |
| Decidedate: | May 4 |
| Decideyear: | 1992 |
| Fullname: | Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes |
| Usvol: | 504 |
| Uspage: | 1 |
| Holding: | A cause-and-prejudice standard, rather than Fay v. Noias deliberate bypass standard, is the correct standard for excusing a habeas corpus petitioner's failure to develop a material fact in state-court proceedings. |
| Majority: | White |
| Joinmajority: | Rehnquist, Scalia, Souter, Thomas |
| Dissent: | O'Connor |
| Joindissent: | Blackmun, Stevens, Kennedy |
| Dissent2: | Kennedy |
| Overturned Previous Case: | Townsend v. Sain |
Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes, 504 U.S. 1 (1992), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a cause-and-prejudice standard, rather than Fay v. Noias deliberate bypass standard, is the correct standard for excusing a habeas corpus petitioner's failure to develop a material fact in state-court proceedings. This decision increased the deference that federal courts are supposed to give to the record in underlying state court proceedings when evaluating habeas petitions.[1]