64
Syllabus
(a) AEDPA does not require a federal habeas court to adopt any one methodology in deciding the only question that matters under § 2254(d)(1)—whether a state court decision is contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. In this case, this Court does not reach the question whether the state court erred, but focuses solely on whether habeas relief is barred by § 2254(d)(1). Pp. 70-71.
(b) This Court must first decide what constitutes such "clearly established" law. Andrade claims that Rummel, Solem, and Harmelin clearly establish a principle that his sentence is so grossly disproportionate that it violated the Eighth Amendment. Under § 2254(d)(1), "clearly established Federal law" is the governing legal principle or principles set forth by this Court at the time a state court renders its decision. The difficulty with Andrade's position is that the Court has not established a clear or consistent path for courts to follow in determining whether a particular sentence for a term of years can violate the Eighth Amendment. Indeed, the only "clearly established" law emerging from the Court's jurisprudence in this area is that a gross disproportionality principle applies to such sentences. Because the Court's cases lack clarity regarding what factors may indicate gross disproportionality, the principle's precise contours are unclear, applicable only in the "exceedingly rare" and "extreme" case. Harmelin, supra, at 1001 (Kennedy, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). Pp. 71-73.
(c) The California Court of Appeal's decision was not "contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of," the clearly established gross disproportionality principle. First, a decision is contrary to clearly established precedent if the state court applied a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in this Court's cases or confronts facts that are materially indistinguishable from a Court decision and nevertheless arrives at a different result. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U. S. 362, 405- 406. Andrade's sentence implicates factors relevant in both Rummel and Solem. Because Harmelin and Solem specifically stated that they did not overrule Rummel, it was not contrary to this Court's clearly established law for the state court to turn to Rummel in deciding whether the sentence was grossly disproportionate. See Harmelin, supra, at 998 (Kennedy, J.). Also, the facts here fall in between Solem and Rummel but are not materially indistinguishable from either. Thus, the state court did not confront materially indistinguishable facts yet arrive at a different result. Second, under the "unreasonable application" clause, a federal habeas court may grant the writ if the state court identifies the correct governing legal principle but unreasonably applies it to the facts of the prisoner's case. Williams v. Taylor, 529
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