McCleskey v. Kemp, Superintendent, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center

Decided April 22, 1987. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-6811 · 481 U.S. 279 (1987) · Cited 2,038 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

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.

• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Castaneda v. Partida · 430 U.S. 482 (1977)
• Turner v. Murray · 476 U.S. 28 (1986)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Whitus v. Georgia · 385 U.S. 545 (1967)
• Wayte v. United States · 470 U.S. 598 (1985)
• Godfrey v. Georgia · 446 U.S. 420 (1980)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Strauder v. West Virginia · 100 U.S. 303 (1880)
• Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
• Proffitt v. Florida · 428 U.S. 242 (1976)
• Bazemore v. Friday · 478 U.S. 385 (1986)
• Rose v. Mitchell · 443 U.S. 545 (1979)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
• Zant v. Stephens · 462 U.S. 862 (1983)
• Trop v. Dulles · 356 U.S. 86 (1958)
• Pulley v. Harris · 465 U.S. 37 (1984)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Coker v. Georgia · 433 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot · 364 U.S. 339 (1960)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Witherspoon v. Illinois · 391 U.S. 510 (1968)
• Bordenkircher v. Hayes · 434 U.S. 357 (1978)
• Oyler v. Boles · 368 U.S. 448 (1962)
• California v. Ramos · 463 U.S. 992 (1983)

Cited by

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

• Graham v. Collins · 506 U.S. 461 (1993)
• Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Baze v. Rees · 553 U.S. 35 (2008)
• Satterwhite v. Texas · 486 U.S. 249 (1988)
• Johnson v. Texas · 509 U.S. 350 (1993)
• Romano v. Oklahoma · 512 U.S. 1 (1994)
• Tuilaepa v. California · 512 U.S. 967 (1994)
• Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado · 580 U.S. 206 (2017)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Roper v. Simmons · 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Atkins v. Virginia · 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
• Penry v. Lynaugh · 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
• Lewis v. Jeffers · 497 U.S. 764 (1990)
• Booth v. Maryland · 482 U.S. 496 (1987)
• McKoy v. North Carolina · 494 U.S. 433 (1990)
• Holland v. Illinois · 493 U.S. 474 (1990)
• Stanford v. Kentucky · 492 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Ring v. Arizona · 536 U.S. 584 (2002)
• Harmelin v. Michigan · 501 U.S. 957 (1991)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas · 495 U.S. 149 (1990)
• United States v. Armstrong · 517 U.S. 456 (1996)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Lowenfield v. Phelps · 484 U.S. 231 (1988)
• Saffle v. Parks · 494 U.S. 484 (1990)
• Thompson v. Oklahoma · 487 U.S. 815 (1988)
• Johnson v. California · 543 U.S. 499 (2005)
• Blystone v. Pennsylvania · 494 U.S. 299 (1990)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).