Ralph Baze and Thomas C. Bowling v. John D. Rees, Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Corrections, et al

Decided April 16, 2008. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-5439 · 553 U.S. 35 (2008) · Cited 1,040 times

Holding

The judgment is affirmed.

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

“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)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Francis v. Resweber · 329 U.S. 459 (1947)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Wilkerson v. Utah · 99 U.S. 130 (1879)
• Farmer v. Brennan · 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
• Atkins v. Virginia · 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
• Harmelin v. Michigan · 501 U.S. 957 (1991)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Gardner v. Florida · 430 U.S. 349 (1977)
• Kansas v. Marsh · 548 U.S. 163 (2006)
• Gomez v. United States District Court for the Northern District of California · 503 U.S. 653 (1992)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Coker v. Georgia · 433 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Mathews v. Lucas · 427 U.S. 495 (1976)
• Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
• Estelle v. Gamble · 429 U.S. 97 (1976)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Helling v. McKinney · 509 U.S. 25 (1993)
• Solem v. Helm · 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)
• Trop v. Dulles · 356 U.S. 86 (1958)
• United States v. Bajakajian · 524 U.S. 321 (1998)
• Simmons v. South Carolina · 512 U.S. 154 (1994)
• Nelson v. Campbell · 541 U.S. 637 (2004)
• Woodford v. Garceau · 538 U.S. 202 (2003)
• Uttecht v. Brown · 551 U.S. 1 (2007)
• Malloy v. South Carolina · 237 U.S. 180 (1915)

Cited by

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

• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Bucklew v. Precythe · 587 U.S. 119 (2019)
• Kennedy v. Louisiana · 554 U.S. 407 (2008)
• Gutierrez v. Saenz · 606 U.S. 305 (2025)
• Miller v. Alabama · 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)

Official text

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

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John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2008). 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).