my-server
← Wiki Redirected from List of United States Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment

List of United States Supreme Court opinions involving capital punishment

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued numerous rulings on the use of capital punishment (the death penalty). While some rulings applied very narrowly, perhaps to only one individual, other cases have had great influence over wide areas of procedure, eligible crimes, acceptable evidence and method of execution.

Eighth Amendment

Method of execution

  • Wilkerson v. Utah, – Firing squad is constitutional.
  • In re Kemmler, – Electrocution is constitutional.
  • Stewart v. LaGrand,
  • Nelson v. Campbell,
  • Hill v. McDonough, – Challenging constitutionality of the execution method is a §1983 lawsuit, not a habeas corpus petition, and thus not subject to the procedural bar on successive petitions.
  • Baze v. Rees, – Kentucky's lethal injection method using sodium thiopental is constitutional.
  • Glossip v. Gross, – To be unconstitutional, a method of execution must involve any risk of harm which is substantial when compared to a known and available alternative method. The condemned has the burden of proof.
  • Bucklew v. Precythe, – Baze v. Rees and Glossip v. Gross govern all Eighth Amendment challenges alleging that a method of execution inflicts unconstitutionally cruel pain. A method is unconstitutional only when it "superadds pain well beyond what's needed to effectuate a death sentence."
  • Barr v. Lee,
  • Nance v. Ward,

Specific crimes

  • Coker v. Georgia, – The death penalty is unconstitutional for rape of an adult woman when the victim is not killed.
  • Enmund v. Florida, – The death penalty is unconstitutional for a person who is a minor participant in a felony and does not kill, attempt to kill, or intend to kill.
  • Tison v. Arizona, – Death penalty may be imposed on a felony-murder defendant who was a major participant in the underlying felony and exhibits extreme indifference to human life.
  • Sumner v. Shuman, – Mandatory death penalty for a prison inmate who is convicted of murder while serving a life sentence without possibility of parole is unconstitutional.
  • Kennedy v. Louisiana, – The death penalty is unconstitutional for child rape and other non-homicidal crimes against the person.

Related to age

  • Thompson v. Oklahoma, – Death Penalty for crimes committed at 15 years of age or less is unconstitutional.
  • Stanford v. Kentucky, – The death penalty for crimes committed at age 16 or 17 is constitutional. (Overruled in Roper v. Simmons)
  • Roper v. Simmons, – The death penalty for those who committed their crimes while under 18 years of age is unconstitutional.

Intellectual disability

  • Ford v. Wainwright, – Execution of an insane convict is unconstitutional.
  • Penry v. Lynaugh, – Executing persons with intellectual disability is constitutional. (Overruled in Atkins v. Virginia)
  • Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal, –
  • Atkins v. Virginia, – The execution of intellectually disabled offenders is unconstitutional.
  • Panetti v. Quarterman, – A person may not be executed if they do not understand the reason for their imminent execution. Once the state has set an execution date death-row inmates may litigate their competency to be executed in habeas corpus proceedings.
  • Hall v. Florida, – IQ tests alone can not be used as a rigid limit for determining intellectual disability.
  • Moore v. Texas,
  • Dunn v. Madison,
  • Madison v. Alabama, – Executing a prisoner who cannot remember committing his or her crime may be constitutional, but executing a prisoner who has dementia or another disorder, rather than psychotic delusions, may not be.

Trial procedure (conviction)

Trial procedure (sentencing)

Other

  • Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber, — Re-execution after a failed attempt does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment nor double jeopardy.
  • Pulley v. Harris, — A state appellate court, before it affirms a death sentence, is not required to compare the sentence in the case before it with the penalties imposed in similar cases if requested to do so by the prisoner.
  • Whitmore v. Arkansas, — Mandatory appellate review is not required in death penalty cases.

Fifth Amendment

Double jeopardy

Sixth Amendment

Trial procedure (sentencing)

Other

Fourteenth Amendment

Due Process

Exculpatory evidence

Equal Protection

Habeas corpus

Summary reversal and vacatur

International law

Miscellaneous

Chronological listing

See also

References