Alabama v. Lereed Shelton
Decided May 20, 2002. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 00-1214 · 535 U.S. 654 (2002) · Cited 330 times
Holding
A suspended sentence that may “end up in the actual deprivation of a person’s liberty” may not be imposed unless the defendant was accorded “the guiding hand of counsel” in the prosecution for the crime charged.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 5–4.
Majority · 5
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · delivered the opinion of the Court
- David Hackett Souter
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 4
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia · filed a dissenting opinion
- Clarence Thomas
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Nichols v. United States · 511 U.S. 738 (1994)
- Scott v. Illinois · 440 U.S. 367 (1979)
- Gagnon v. Scarpelli · 411 U.S. 778 (1973)
- United States v. Cronic · 466 U.S. 648 (1984)
- Lassiter v. Department of Social Servs. of Durham Cty. · 452 U.S. 18 (1981)
- Glover v. United States · 531 U.S. 198 (2001)
- M. L. B. v. S. L. J. · 519 U.S. 102 (1996)
- Hortonville Joint School District No. 1 v. Hortonville Education Ass'n · 426 U.S. 482 (1976)
- Johnson v. Zerbst · 304 U.S. 458 (1938)
- Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
- Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
- Williams v. New York · 337 U.S. 241 (1949)
- United States v. Watts · 519 U.S. 148 (1997)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
- Mitchell v. Wisconsin · 588 U.S. 840 (2019)
- Halbert v. Michigan · 545 U.S. 605 (2005)
- Collins v. Yellen · 594 U.S. 220 (2021)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).