Bryan Stuart Lankford v. Idaho

Decided May 20, 1991. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-7247 · 500 U.S. 110 (1991) · Cited 205 times

Holding

The sentencing process in this case violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because at the time of the sentencing hearing, Lankford and his counsel did not have adequate notice that the judge might sentence him to death.

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.

• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Gardner v. Florida · 430 U.S. 349 (1977)
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath · 341 U.S. 123 (1951)
• Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
• Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)
• Strickland v. Washington · 466 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Godfrey v. Georgia · 446 U.S. 420 (1980)
• Tison v. Arizona · 481 U.S. 137 (1987)
• Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. · 339 U.S. 306 (1950)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill · 470 U.S. 532 (1985)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• Armstrong v. Manzo · 380 U.S. 545 (1965)
• In Re Oliver · 333 U.S. 257 (1948)
• Herring v. New York · 422 U.S. 853 (1975)
• Satterwhite v. Texas · 486 U.S. 249 (1988)
• Baldwin v. Hale · 68 U.S. 223 (1864)

Cited by

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

• Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• Harris v. Alabama · 513 U.S. 504 (1995)

Official text

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

Explore from here

John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). 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).