Fay is recognized as one of three highly influential 1963 cases in a "trilogy" of Supreme Court habeas jurisprudence, the other two being Townsend v. Sain and Sanders v. United States.

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed finding exceptional "circumstances rendering [state] process ineffective to protect the rights of the prisoner".

[10] Writing for the majority, Justice William Brennan quoted from the Frank v. Mangum dissent stating "habeas corpus cuts through all forms...It comes in from the outside, not in subordination to the proceedings".

[13] Justice Lewis Powell concurring in Schneckloth v. Bustamonte (1973) said "recent scholarship [had] cast grave doubt on Fay's version."

[15] The Court narrowed Fay in Wainwright v. Sykes (1977) holding that independent and adequate state grounds restricted federal habeas jurisdiction unless the petitioner could show "cause and prejudice".

[15] Text of Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391 (1963) is available from: Cornell Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)