Hitchcock v. Dugger, Florida Department of Corrections

Decided April 22, 1987. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-6756 · 481 U.S. 393 (1987) · Cited 760 times

Holding

Petitioner was sentenced to death in proceedings that did not comport with the requirement that the sentencer may neither refuse to consider nor be precluded from considering any relevant mitigating evidence.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Skipper v. South Carolina · 476 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
• Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)

Cited by

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

• Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman · 550 U.S. 233 (2007)
• Franklin v. Lynaugh · 487 U.S. 164 (1988)
• Hall v. Florida · 572 U.S. 701 (2014)
• McKoy v. North Carolina · 494 U.S. 433 (1990)
• Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
• Saffle v. Parks · 494 U.S. 484 (1990)
• Johnson v. Texas · 509 U.S. 350 (1993)
• Penry v. Lynaugh · 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
• Sumner v. Shuman · 483 U.S. 66 (1987)
• Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
• Graham v. Collins · 506 U.S. 461 (1993)
• Parker v. Dugger · 498 U.S. 308 (1991)
• Harmelin v. Michigan · 501 U.S. 957 (1991)
• Boyde v. California · 494 U.S. 370 (1990)
• Burger v. Kemp · 483 U.S. 776 (1987)
• Morgan v. Illinois · 504 U.S. 719 (1992)
• Mills v. Maryland · 486 U.S. 367 (1988)
• Blystone v. Pennsylvania · 494 U.S. 299 (1990)
• Beard v. Banks · 542 U.S. 406 (2004)
• Buchanan v. Angelone · 522 U.S. 269 (1998)

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).