Marks et al. v. United States

Decided March 1, 1977. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-708 · 430 U.S. 188 (1977) · Cited 1,664 times

Holding

The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment precludes retroactive application to petitioners of the Miller standards, to the extent that those standards may impose criminal liability for conduct not punishable under the standards announced in Memoirs v.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• A Book Named \John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure\" v. Attorney General of Massachusetts" · 383 U.S. 413 (1966)
• Bouie v. City of Columbia · 378 U.S. 347 (1964)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• United States v. 12 200-Ft. Reels of Super 8MM. Film · 413 U.S. 123 (1973)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Calder v. Bull · 3 U.S. 386 (1798)
• United States v. Harriss · 347 U.S. 612 (1954)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Smith v. Goguen · 415 U.S. 566 (1974)
• Lanzetta v. New Jersey · 306 U.S. 451 (1939)
• Ginzburg v. United States · 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
• Rose v. Locke · 423 U.S. 48 (1975)
• Redrup v. New York · 386 U.S. 767 (1967)
• United States v. Orito · 413 U.S. 139 (1973)
• Kaplan v. California · 413 U.S. 115 (1973)
• Rabe v. Washington · 405 U.S. 313 (1972)

Cited by

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

• Panetti v. Quarterman · 551 U.S. 930 (2007)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. · 557 U.S. 167 (2009)
• Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, Administratrix of the Estate of Catrett · 477 U.S. 317 (1986)
• United States v. Santos · 553 U.S. 507 (2008)
• Bucklew v. Precythe · 587 U.S. 119 (2019)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1977). 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).