Estelle, Corrections Director, et al. v. Gamble

Decided November 30, 1976. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-929 · 429 U.S. 97 (1976) · Cited 28,035 times

Holding

Deliberate indifference by prison personnel to a prisoner's serious illness or injury constitutes cruel and unusual punishment contravening the Eighth Amendment.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Haines v. Kerner · 404 U.S. 519 (1972)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Francis v. Resweber · 329 U.S. 459 (1947)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Conley v. Gibson · 355 U.S. 41 (1957)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Trop v. Dulles · 356 U.S. 86 (1958)
• Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles · 331 U.S. 549 (1947)
• Wilkerson v. Utah · 99 U.S. 130 (1879)
• Cruz v. Beto · 405 U.S. 319 (1972)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Cooper v. Pate · 378 U.S. 546 (1964)
• Butz v. Glover Livestock Commission Co. · 411 U.S. 182 (1973)
• Borden's Farm Products Co. v. Baldwin · 293 U.S. 194 (1934)

Cited by

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

• Wilson v. Seiter · 501 U.S. 294 (1991)
• Helling v. McKinney · 509 U.S. 25 (1993)
• West v. Atkins · 487 U.S. 42 (1988)
• Hudson v. McMillian · 503 U.S. 1 (1992)
• Farmer v. Brennan · 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
• DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services · 489 U.S. 189 (1989)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Rhodes v. Chapman · 452 U.S. 337 (1981)
• Whitley v. Albers · 475 U.S. 312 (1986)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Erickson v. Pardus · 551 U.S. 89 (2007)
• Davidson v. Cannon · 474 U.S. 344 (1986)
• Parratt v. Taylor · 451 U.S. 527 (1981)
• United States v. Bailey · 444 U.S. 394 (1980)
• Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly · 550 U.S. 544 (2007)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• Miller v. Alabama · 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Youngberg v. Romeo Ex Rel. Romeo · 457 U.S. 307 (1982)
• Baze v. Rees · 553 U.S. 35 (2008)
• Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki · 552 U.S. 389 (2008)
• Bucklew v. Precythe · 587 U.S. 119 (2019)
• Georgia v. Public Resource.Org, Inc. · 590 U.S. 255 (2020)
• Neitzke v. Williams · 490 U.S. 319 (1989)
• Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• Hughes v. Rowe · 449 U.S. 5 (1980)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1976). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).