Ronald Allen Harmelin v. Michigan

Decided June 27, 1991. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-7272 · 501 U.S. 957 (1991) · Cited 4,521 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.

• Solem v. Helm · 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
• Rummel v. Estelle · 445 U.S. 263 (1980)
• Hutto v. Davis · 454 U.S. 370 (1982)
• Coker v. Georgia · 433 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Stanford v. Kentucky · 492 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Trop v. Dulles · 356 U.S. 86 (1958)
• Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Graham v. West Virginia · 224 U.S. 616 (1912)
• O'Neil v. Vermont · 144 U.S. 323 (1892)
• Mistretta v. United States · 488 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Grady v. Corbin · 495 U.S. 508 (1990)
• Chapman v. United States · 500 U.S. 453 (1991)
• Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz · 496 U.S. 444 (1990)
• United States v. Grayson · 438 U.S. 41 (1978)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Florida v. Royer · 460 U.S. 491 (1983)
• United States v. Mendenhall · 446 U.S. 544 (1980)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• Williams v. New York · 337 U.S. 241 (1949)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Beck v. Alabama · 447 U.S. 625 (1980)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)

Cited by

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

• Ewing v. California · 538 U.S. 11 (2003)
• Lockyer v. Andrade · 538 U.S. 63 (2003)
• Miller v. Alabama · 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
• Baze v. Rees · 553 U.S. 35 (2008)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Kennedy v. Louisiana · 554 U.S. 407 (2008)
• Atkins v. Virginia · 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
• Timbs v. Indiana · 586 U.S. 146 (2019)
• Gall v. United States · 552 U.S. 38 (2007)
• White v. Woodall · 572 U.S. 415 (2014)
• Town of Greece v. Galloway · 572 U.S. 565 (2014)
• Helling v. McKinney · 509 U.S. 25 (1993)
• Roper v. Simmons · 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• Austin v. United States · 509 U.S. 602 (1993)
• Hudson v. United States · 522 U.S. 93 (1997)
• Foucha v. Louisiana · 504 U.S. 71 (1992)
• United States v. James Daniel Good Real Property · 510 U.S. 43 (1993)
• Woods v. Donald · 575 U.S. 312 (2015)
• Graham v. Collins · 506 U.S. 461 (1993)
• Federal Maritime Commission v. South Carolina State Ports Authority · 535 U.S. 743 (2002)
• Evans v. United States · 504 U.S. 255 (1992)
• Jones v. Mississippi · 593 U.S. 98 (2021)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization · 606 U.S. 1 (2025)

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).