Caldwell v. Mississippi

Decided June 11, 1985. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-6607 · 472 U.S. 320 (1985) · Cited 2,827 times

Holding

The death sentence is vacated.

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 5–3.

“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.

• California v. Ramos · 463 U.S. 992 (1983)
• Donnelly v. DeChristoforo · 416 U.S. 637 (1974)
• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
• Zant v. Stephens · 462 U.S. 862 (1983)
• Barclay v. Florida · 463 U.S. 939 (1983)
• Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• County Court of Ulster Cty. v. Allen · 442 U.S. 140 (1979)
• McGautha v. California · 402 U.S. 183 (1971)
• Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• Griffin v. California · 380 U.S. 609 (1965)
• Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
• Ake v. Oklahoma · 470 U.S. 68 (1985)
• Cupp v. Naughten · 414 U.S. 141 (1973)
• Gardner v. Florida · 430 U.S. 349 (1977)
• Godfrey v. Georgia · 446 U.S. 420 (1980)
• Lisenba v. California · 314 U.S. 219 (1942)
• Arizona v. Rumsey · 467 U.S. 203 (1984)
• Miller v. Pate · 386 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Herb v. Pitcairn · 324 U.S. 117 (1945)

Cited by

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

• Dugger v. Adams · 489 U.S. 401 (1989)
• Romano v. Oklahoma · 512 U.S. 1 (1994)
• Sawyer v. Smith · 497 U.S. 227 (1990)
• Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
• O'Dell v. Netherland · 521 U.S. 151 (1997)
• Darden v. Wainwright · 477 U.S. 168 (1986)
• Cabana v. Bullock · 474 U.S. 376 (1986)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
• Lowenfield v. Phelps · 484 U.S. 231 (1988)
• Wright v. West · 505 U.S. 277 (1992)
• Clemons v. Mississippi · 494 U.S. 738 (1990)
• Whorton v. Bockting · 549 U.S. 406 (2007)
• Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
• Murray v. Giarratano · 492 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Turner v. Murray · 476 U.S. 28 (1986)
• Beard v. Banks · 542 U.S. 406 (2004)
• New York v. P. J. Video, Inc. · 475 U.S. 868 (1986)
• Delaware v. Van Arsdall · 475 U.S. 673 (1986)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Moran v. Burbine · 475 U.S. 412 (1986)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Maryland v. Wilson · 519 U.S. 408 (1997)
• California v. Brown · 479 U.S. 538 (1987)
• Satterwhite v. Texas · 486 U.S. 249 (1988)
• Arizona v. Evans · 514 U.S. 1 (1995)
• Tyler v. Cain · 533 U.S. 656 (2001)
• United States v. Williams · 504 U.S. 36 (1992)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Hildwin v. Florida · 490 U.S. 638 (1989)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Thurgood Marshall’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).