Howard Wyatt v. Bill Cole and John Robbins, II
Decided May 18, 1992. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 91-126 · 504 U.S. 158 (1992) · Cited 921 times
Holding
The forced administration of antipsychotic medication during Riggins’ trial violated rights guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.
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 6–3.
Majority · 4
- Sandra Day O'Connor · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens
Concurring · 2
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · filed a concurring opinion
- Antonin Scalia
Dissenting · 3
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter
- William Hubbs Rehnquist · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
- Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
- Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co. · 457 U.S. 922 (1982)
- Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
- Stewart v. Sonneborn · 98 U.S. 187 (1879)
- Malley v. Briggs · 475 U.S. 335 (1986)
- Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
- Anderson v. Creighton · 483 U.S. 635 (1987)
- Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
- Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
- Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
- Tower v. Glover · 467 U.S. 914 (1984)
- Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, Administratrix of the Estate of Catrett · 477 U.S. 317 (1986)
- Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
- Hafer v. Melo · 502 U.S. 21 (1991)
- Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
- Siegert v. Gilley · 500 U.S. 226 (1991)
- Burns v. Reed · 500 U.S. 478 (1991)
- Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
- Yee v. City of Escondido · 503 U.S. 519 (1992)
- Pulliam v. Allen · 466 U.S. 522 (1984)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Richardson v. McKnight · 521 U.S. 399 (1997)
- Filarsky v. Delia · 566 U.S. 377 (2012)
- Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
- Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
- Crawford-El v. Britton · 523 U.S. 574 (1998)
- Buckley v. Fitzsimmons · 509 U.S. 259 (1993)
- Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
- Professional Real Estate Investors, Inc. v. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. · 508 U.S. 49 (1993)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1992). 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).