362
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
its duty as redressing cases of "actual innocence." This error aside, under a proper interpretation of the Carrier analysis, the Court's definition of "innocence of death" is plainly wrong because it disregards well-settled law—both the law of habeas corpus and the law of capital punishment.
I
The Court today holds that, absent a showing of cause, a federal court may not review a capital defendant's defaulted, successive, or abusive claims unless the defendant
"show[s] by clear and convincing evidence that, but for a constitutional error, no reasonable juror would have found [him] eligible for the death penalty." Ante, at 336.
This definition of "innocence of the death sentence" deviates from our established jurisprudence in two ways. First, the "clear and convincing evidence" standard departs from a line of decisions defining the "actual innocence" exception to the cause-and-prejudice requirement. Second, and more fundamentally, the Court's focus on eligibility for the death penalty conflicts with the very structure of the constitutional law of capital punishment.
As noted above, in Murray v. Carrier, the Court held that in those cases in which "a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent, a federal habeas court may grant the writ even in the absence of a showing of cause for the procedural default." 477 U. S., at 496 (emphasis added). The Court has since frequently confirmed this standard. See, e. g., Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U. S. 722, 748 (1991); Dugger v. Adams, 489 U. S. 401, 412, n. 6 (1989); Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288, 313 (1989). In subsequent decisions, both those involving "innocence of the offense" and those involving "innocence of the death sentence," the Court has employed the same standard of proof. For example, in Smith v. Murray, 477 U. S. 527
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