Nelson v. Colorado
Decided April 19, 2017. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 15-1256 · 581 U.S. 128 (2017) · Cited 211 times
Holding
The Exoneration Act's scheme does not comport with the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of due process.
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 7–1.
Majority · 6
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Elena Kagan
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Concurring · 1
- Samuel A. Alito Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 1
- Clarence Thomas · 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.
- Medina v. California · 505 U.S. 437 (1992)
- Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
- Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
- Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Florida · 295 U.S. 301 (1935)
- Cooper v. Oklahoma · 517 U.S. 348 (1996)
- Patterson v. New York · 432 U.S. 197 (1977)
- Kaley v. United States · 571 U.S. 320 (2014)
- Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
- Burks v. United States · 437 U.S. 1 (1978)
- Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
- McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
- Dowling v. United States · 493 U.S. 342 (1990)
- Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
- Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales · 545 U.S. 748 (2005)
- Dusenbery v. United States · 534 U.S. 161 (2002)
- Johnson v. Mississippi · 486 U.S. 578 (1988)
- Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation · 524 U.S. 156 (1998)
- Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg · 512 U.S. 415 (1994)
- Johnson v. United States · 576 U.S. 591 (2015)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Timbs v. Indiana · 586 U.S. 146 (2019)
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2017). 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).