Reginald a. Wilkinson, Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, et al. v. William Dwight Dotson, et al.
Decided March 7, 2005. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 03-287 · 544 U.S. 74 (2005) · Cited 2,909 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 8–1.
Majority · 6
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · delivered the opinion of the Court
- David Hackett Souter
- John Paul Stevens
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 2
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- Clarence Thomas
Dissenting · 1
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · 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.
- Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
- Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
- Edwards v. Balisok · 520 U.S. 641 (1997)
- Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
- Muhammad v. Close · 540 U.S. 749 (2004)
- Hilton v. Braunskill · 481 U.S. 770 (1987)
- Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
- Porter v. Nussle · 534 U.S. 516 (2002)
- Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
- California Department of Corrections v. Morales · 514 U.S. 499 (1995)
- Peyton v. Rowe · 391 U.S. 54 (1968)
- WILWORDING Et Al. v. SWENSON, WARDEN · 404 U.S. 249 (1971)
- Cooper v. Pate · 378 U.S. 546 (1964)
- Walker v. Wainwright · 390 U.S. 335 (1968)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Magwood v. Patterson · 561 U.S. 320 (2010)
- District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne · 557 U.S. 52 (2009)
- Nance v. Ward · 597 U.S. 159 (2022)
- Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam · 591 U.S. 103 (2020)
- Mayle v. Felix · 545 U.S. 644 (2005)
- Boumediene v. Bush · 553 U.S. 723 (2008)
- Harbison v. Bell · 556 U.S. 180 (2009)
- Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic · 606 U.S. 357 (2025)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
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).