Solem, Warden, South Dakota State Penitentiary v. Helm

Decided June 28, 1983. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-492 · 463 U.S. 277 (1983) · Cited 4,242 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.

• Rummel v. Estelle · 445 U.S. 263 (1980)
• Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)
• Coker v. Georgia · 433 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Hutto v. Davis · 454 U.S. 370 (1982)
• O'Neil v. Vermont · 144 U.S. 323 (1892)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Barker v. Wingo · 407 U.S. 514 (1972)
• Trop v. Dulles · 356 U.S. 86 (1958)
• Baldwin v. New York · 399 U.S. 66 (1970)
• Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat · 452 U.S. 458 (1981)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal & Correctional Complex · 442 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Woodson v. North Carolina · 428 U.S. 280 (1976)
• Klopfer v. North Carolina · 386 U.S. 213 (1967)
• Gore v. United States · 357 U.S. 386 (1958)
• City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc. · 462 U.S. 416 (1983)
• Graham v. West Virginia · 224 U.S. 616 (1912)

Cited by

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

• Harmelin v. Michigan · 501 U.S. 957 (1991)
• Ewing v. California · 538 U.S. 11 (2003)
• Lockyer v. Andrade · 538 U.S. 63 (2003)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. · 532 U.S. 424 (2001)
• Ford v. Wainwright · 477 U.S. 399 (1986)
• Spaziano v. Florida · 468 U.S. 447 (1984)
• Stanford v. Kentucky · 492 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Tennessee v. Garner · 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Williams v. United States · 503 U.S. 193 (1992)
• United States v. Bajakajian · 524 U.S. 321 (1998)
• Rita v. United States · 551 U.S. 338 (2007)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• Baze v. Rees · 553 U.S. 35 (2008)
• TXO Production Corp. v. Alliance Resources Corp. · 509 U.S. 443 (1993)
• Cabana v. Bullock · 474 U.S. 376 (1986)
• Timbs v. Indiana · 586 U.S. 146 (2019)
• Penry v. Lynaugh · 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
• Tison v. Arizona · 481 U.S. 137 (1987)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Clemons v. Mississippi · 494 U.S. 738 (1990)
• Concepcion v. United States · 597 U.S. 481 (2022)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
• Miller v. Alabama · 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
• Berkemer v. McCarty · 468 U.S. 420 (1984)
• Ring v. Arizona · 536 U.S. 584 (2002)
• Koon v. United States · 518 U.S. 81 (1996)
• Atkins v. Virginia · 536 U.S. 304 (2002)

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).