Skipper v. South Carolina

Decided April 29, 1986. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-6859 · 476 U.S. 1 (1986) · Cited 1,534 times

Holding

The trial court's exclusion from the sentencing hearing of the testimony of the jailers and the visitor denied petitioner his right to place before the sentencing jury all relevant evidence in mitigation of punishment.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Eddings v. Oklahoma · 455 U.S. 104 (1982)
• Lockett v. Ohio · 438 U.S. 586 (1978)
• Gardner v. Florida · 430 U.S. 349 (1977)
• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
• Jurek v. Texas · 428 U.S. 262 (1976)
• Roberts v. Louisiana · 428 U.S. 325 (1976)
• Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)

Cited by

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

• Ayers v. Belmontes · 549 U.S. 7 (2006)
• O'Dell v. Netherland · 521 U.S. 151 (1997)
• Franklin v. Lynaugh · 487 U.S. 164 (1988)
• Simmons v. South Carolina · 512 U.S. 154 (1994)
• Johnson v. Texas · 509 U.S. 350 (1993)
• Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman · 550 U.S. 233 (2007)
• Schriro v. Landrigan · 550 U.S. 465 (2007)
• Graham v. Collins · 506 U.S. 461 (1993)
• McKoy v. North Carolina · 494 U.S. 433 (1990)
• Tennard v. Dretke, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division · 542 U.S. 274 (2004)
• Mills v. Maryland · 486 U.S. 367 (1988)
• Hitchcock v. Dugger · 481 U.S. 393 (1987)
• United States v. Tsarnaev · 595 U.S. 302 (2022)
• Boyde v. California · 494 U.S. 370 (1990)
• Fry v. Pliler · 551 U.S. 112 (2007)
• Sumner v. Shuman · 483 U.S. 66 (1987)
• Penry v. Lynaugh · 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
• Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
• Saffle v. Parks · 494 U.S. 484 (1990)
• Brown v. Payton · 544 U.S. 133 (2005)
• Miller v. Alabama · 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
• Burger v. Kemp · 483 U.S. 776 (1987)
• Gray v. Netherland · 518 U.S. 152 (1996)
• Ford v. Wainwright · 477 U.S. 399 (1986)
• Booth v. Maryland · 482 U.S. 496 (1987)
• Lowenfield v. Phelps · 484 U.S. 231 (1988)
• Wong v. Belmontes · 558 U.S. 15 (2009)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).