In Smith v. Yeager, the U.S Supreme Court examined whether a state prisoner's habeas corpus petition was "successive" under 28 U.S.C §2244, and therefore could be dismissed without being heard on its merits. The petitioner, Robert L. Smith Jr., had been convicted of first-degree murder in New Jersey and his conviction was upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court. He then filed a federal habeas corpus petition which was denied due to procedural default at the state level. After exhausting his state remedies, he filed another federal habeas corpus petition raising new constitutional claims that were not presented in his previous petitions. The District Court dismissed this second petition as successive under §2244 because it raised issues that could have been raised in earlier proceedings but weren't. However, upon review by the US Supreme court led by Justice Potter Stewart (majority), they reversed this decision stating that since these issues were not deliberately withheld from or previously decided by a federal court - they should not be considered 'successive'. Therefore Mr Smith's case deserved full consideration on its own merits rather than dismissal.

In the dissenting opinion for Smith v. Yeager, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to grant habeas corpus relief was incorrect because it failed to properly apply federal law regarding successive petitions. He contended that Smith had already raised his claim in a previous petition and thus should not be allowed to raise it again without showing exceptional circumstances, which he believed Smith had failed to do. Furthermore, Justice Harlan disagreed with the majority's interpretation of "in custody" under federal habeas corpus law. He asserted that this term should only refer to physical detention and not include other forms of restraint such as parole or probation conditions. Therefore, according to him, since Smith was no longer physically detained at the time he filed his second petition, he did not meet the "in custody" requirement necessary for filing a habeas corpus petition.