Booth v. Maryland

Decided June 15, 1987. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-5020 · 482 U.S. 496 (1987) · Cited 1,501 times

Holding

The introduction of a VIS at the sentencing phase of a capital murder trial violates the Eighth Amendment, and therefore the Maryland statute is invalid to the extent it requires consideration of this information.

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.

“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.

• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
• Zant v. Stephens · 462 U.S. 862 (1983)
• Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Tison v. Arizona · 481 U.S. 137 (1987)
• California v. Ramos · 463 U.S. 992 (1983)
• Witherspoon v. Illinois · 391 U.S. 510 (1968)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Gardner v. Florida · 430 U.S. 349 (1977)
• Godfrey v. Georgia · 446 U.S. 420 (1980)
• Skipper v. South Carolina · 476 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Gore v. United States · 357 U.S. 386 (1958)
• United States v. Feola · 420 U.S. 671 (1975)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• South Carolina v. Gathers · 490 U.S. 805 (1989)
• Bosse v. Oklahoma · 580 U.S. 1 (2016)
• Mills v. Maryland · 486 U.S. 367 (1988)
• Dawson v. Delaware · 503 U.S. 159 (1992)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
• Lowenfield v. Phelps · 484 U.S. 231 (1988)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
• Lockhart v. Fretwell · 506 U.S. 364 (1993)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Franklin v. Lynaugh · 487 U.S. 164 (1988)
• Murray v. Giarratano · 492 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Stanford v. Kentucky · 492 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Dugger v. Adams · 489 U.S. 401 (1989)
• Harris v. Alabama · 513 U.S. 504 (1995)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1987). 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).