67 STEVENS, J., dissenting this rule is straightforward: "[m]ere voluntary cessation of allegedly illegal conduct does not moot a case; if it did, the courts would be compelled to leave '[t]he defendant. . . free to return to his old ways.' United States v. Phosphate Export Assn., Inc., 393 U. S. 199, 203 (1968) (quoting United States v. W. T. Grant Co., 345 U. S. 629, 632 (1953)). Whenever there is a risk that the defendant will "return to his old ways," the plaintiff continues to have a stake in the outcome-its interest in not continuing to be subjected to that risk. I am willing to assume, as does the Court, that if this case is dismissed, there is no risk that the University will resume its relationship with Iron Arrow. But it is exactly that fact which means this case is not moot. Petitioners claim that the reason the University has ended its relationship with Iron Arrow is the Secretary's assertedly unlawful threat to terminate federal financial assistance to the University unless it severed its ties to Iron Arrow.5 That threat continues to hang over the University's head, and could not help but influence the University's reaction should an attempt be made to persuade it to reexamine its decision to end its relationship with Iron Arrow. Petitioners assert that this continuing threat injures them because it prevents the University from reexamining its decision free from the coercive threat it now faces. That injury persists; hence, this case has not been mooted. It is true that the letter from the president states that the University will not resume its relationship with Iron Arrow irrespective of the outcome of this suit. The Court says of the University's decision: "It is not the typical case where it could be argued that the University has taken its position only to escape the threat of an injunction." Ante, at 72. However, it can be argued, and petitioners do argue, that the University has taken its position only to escape the threat of "No finding of fact has been made that this is not the case, and the Court does not purport to make such a finding. STEVENS, J., dissenting 464 U. S. termination of funds. We have only the University's assurance that it has made its decision voluntarily, without reference to this threat. But no such voluntary decision was made during the years preceding the Secretary's threat, and our cases make clear that a mere assurance that the cessation of activity has been "voluntary" is insufficient when the cessation occurs in response to a coercive sanction. When a defendant ceases challenged conduct because it has been sued, its mere assurance that it will not return to its old ways is insufficient to moot the case. Quern v. Mandley, 436 U. S. 725, 733, n. 7 (1978); United States v. W. T. Grant Co., supra, at 632-633. Even if the defendant can demonstrate that it would be uneconomical for it to resume the challenged activity, the case is not mooted. See United States v. Phosphate Export Assn., Inc., supra, at 202-204. Similarly, a defendant's assurance that it discontinued the challenged activity for reasons entirely unrelated to the pendency of the suit is insufficient to moot the case. See United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Assn., 166 U. S. 290, 307-309 (1897). These principles apply to the University's assurance regarding its relationship with Iron Arrow. The University made its decision to end its support for Iron Arrow under threat of a coercive sanction. That decision should no more suffice to moot a case than a decision made under the cloud of a lawsuit, which, after all, is nothing more than the threat of another form of coercive sanction." See also Reeves, Inc. v. Stake, 447 U. S. 429, 434, n. 7 (1980). 'The Court attempts to distinguish these cases by arguing that they only apply to defendants to lawsuits and not to nondefendants. Putting aside the fact that the University is not only a defendant, but also an indispensable party, in this lawsuit, the Court itself seems to recognize that the principles regarding voluntary cessation apply where the cessation of activity is by a third party and not a defendant. Ante, at 72 (citing St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co. v. Barry, 438 U. S. 531, 537-538 (1978)). See also Phosphate Export Assn., supra, at 202-204. Moreover, the reason that the doctrine is normally applied to defendants in lawsuits is that when a defendant ceases its activity it does so under the threat of a coercive sanction. In this case, the University did just that. 67 STEVENS, J., dissenting We cannot know what the future might hold for the relationship between the Iron Arrow Society and the University. If Iron Arrow were permitted to litigate this case to a conclusion, and if this Court were to hold that the Secretary may not threaten to terminate federal assistance to the University because of its relationship with Iron Arrow-if this threat could no longer have any influence on the University's evaluation of the problem-the alumni membership of Iron Arrow might well be able to persuade the University to reexamine its decision. Surely our cases indicate that the University must make its decision free from any coercive influence before the case can be mooted-particularly when the successful prosecution of the litigation would end the coercion. While I express no opinion on whether or not the University's support of Iron Arrow did violate federal law, it is clear to me that Iron Arrow is entitled to have the question decided, and that if Iron Arrow prevails, it would then be entitled to request that the University make a fresh examination of the policy question unhampered by the threat of the termination of federal funding. If it took six years for that threat to produce the 1982 decision, it is not fanciful to suggest that the University values its relationship with Iron Arrow sufficiently that it would consider reversing its decision if the threat were removed. In short, Iron Arrow continues to have a legally cognizable stake in the outcome of this case. I respectfully dissent. WAINWRIGHT, SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS v. GOODE ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 83-131. Decided November 28, 1983 Respondent was convicted of murder in a Florida state court, and the trial judge sentenced him to death. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed. Thereafter, respondent filed a motion in state court to vacate the conviction and sentence, contending that the sentencing judge considered an aggravating circumstance-future dangerousness-that is impermissible under Florida law. The motion was denied, and the denial was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court. Respondent then filed a habeas corpus petition in the Florida Supreme Court, which, in denying the petition, held that the record failed to show that the sentencing judge had relied upon the claimed impermissible factor. Respondent then filed a habeas corpus petition in Federal District Court, which, in dismissing the petition, similarly held that the claim that the trial judge improperly considered a nonstatutory aggravating circumstance in imposing sentence was not supported by the record. But the Court of Appeals reversed, concluding from the record that the Florida Supreme Court's finding that the sentencing judge had not relied on respondent's future dangerousness, although entitled to a presumption of correctness under 28 U. S. C. §2254(d)(8), was "not fairly supported by the record as a whole," and that the execution of respondent would be a "unique, freakish instance" in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Held: 1. Assuming that the issue of whether the sentencing judge had relied on a nonstatutory aggravating circumstance was one of law, it is an issue of state law that was resolved by the Florida Supreme Court. That resolution should have been accepted by the Court of Appeals, since the views of a State's highest court with respect to state law are binding on the federal courts. 2. If, on the other hand, such issue was one of fact, the Court of Appeals failed to give proper weight to the state court's resolution of the issue. The rule under 28 U. S. C. § 2254(d)(8) that a federal court, in ruling on a habeas corpus petition, may not overturn a state court's factual conclusion unless such conclusion is not "fairly supported by the record," applies equally to findings of trial courts and appellate courts. Here, because the Florida Supreme Court's conclusions find fair support in the record, the Court of Appeals erred in substituting its view of the facts for that of the Florida Supreme Court. 3. Even if the Court of Appeals were correct in concluding that the sentencing judge had relied on a factor unavailable to him under state law, it erred in reversing the District Court's dismissal of respondent's habeas corpus petition. It does not appear that if the sentencing judge did consider such a factor, the balancing process of comparing aggravating and mitigating circumstances, as prescribed by the Florida statute, was so infected as to render the death sentence constitutionally impermissible. Whatever may have been true of the sentencing judge, there is no claim that in conducting its independent reweighing of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances the Florida Supreme Court considered respondent's future dangerousness. Thus, there is no basis for concluding that the procedures followed by the State produced an arbitrary or freakish sentence forbidden by the Eighth Amendment. Certiorari granted; 704 F. 2d 593, reversed and remanded. PER CURIAM. Petitioner, the Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, requests review of a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ordering the District Court for the Middle District of Florida to issue a writ of habeas corpus conditional upon the resentencing of respondent. For the reasons set out below, we reverse. I On March 5, 1976, respondent, Arthur Goode, took a 10year-old boy ("Jason") from a school bus stop in Florida, sexually assaulted him, and strangled him with a belt. Respondent then went to Maryland where he had previously escaped from a mental hospital. While in Maryland, he kidnaped two young boys, one of whom he killed in Virginia. The State of Virginia tried and convicted respondent of the Virginia murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Goode was returned to Florida to stand trial for the murder he committed there. Although he entered a plea of "not guilty," there was never a question whether Goode committed the crime, since at trial he testified in graphic detail as to |