Marcus Thornton v. United States

Decided May 24, 2004. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-5165 · 541 U.S. 615 (2004) · Cited 660 times

Holding

Section 1983 is an appropriate vehicle for petitioner’s Eighth Amendment claim seeking a temporary stay and permanent injunctive relief.

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 7–2.

“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.

• New York v. Belton · 453 U.S. 454 (1981)
• Chimel v. California · 395 U.S. 752 (1969)
• United States v. Rabinowitz · 339 U.S. 56 (1950)
• Robbins v. California · 453 U.S. 420 (1981)
• United States v. Robinson · 414 U.S. 218 (1973)
• Knowles v. Iowa · 525 U.S. 113 (1998)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• Wyoming v. Houghton · 526 U.S. 295 (1999)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Sibron v. New York · 392 U.S. 40 (1968)
• Dunaway v. New York · 442 U.S. 200 (1979)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Ohio v. Robinette · 519 U.S. 33 (1996)
• Preston v. United States · 376 U.S. 364 (1964)
• Agnello v. United States · 269 U.S. 20 (1925)
• Marron v. United States · 275 U.S. 192 (1927)
• Atwater v. City of Lago Vista · 532 U.S. 318 (2001)
• Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey · 524 U.S. 206 (1998)
• Harris v. United States · 331 U.S. 145 (1947)
• Yee v. City of Escondido · 503 U.S. 519 (1992)
• Peralta v. Heights Medical Center, Inc. · 485 U.S. 80 (1988)
• Washington v. Chrisman · 455 U.S. 1 (1982)
• Vance v. Terrazas · 444 U.S. 252 (1980)

Cited by

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

• Arizona v. Gant · 556 U.S. 332 (2009)
• Maryland v. King · 569 U.S. 435 (2013)
• Georgia v. Randolph · 547 U.S. 103 (2006)
• Bailey v. United States · 568 U.S. 186 (2013)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2004). 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).