Bell v. Ohio
Decided July 3, 1978. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 76-6513 · 438 U.S. 637 (1978) · Cited 192 times
We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.
How the Justices voted
Plurality · 1
- Warren Earl Burger · delivered the opinion of the Court
Concurring · 3
- Byron Raymond White · filed a concurring opinion
- Harry Andrew Blackmun · filed a concurring opinion
- Thurgood Marshall · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 1
- William Hubbs Rehnquist · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
- Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Oregon v. Guzek · 546 U.S. 517 (2006)
- Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
- Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)
- Beck v. Alabama · 447 U.S. 625 (1980)
- Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
- Godfrey v. Georgia · 446 U.S. 420 (1980)
- Morgan v. Illinois · 504 U.S. 719 (1992)
- Spaziano v. Florida · 468 U.S. 447 (1984)
- Barclay v. Florida · 463 U.S. 939 (1983)
- Johnson v. Texas · 509 U.S. 350 (1993)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).