Williams v. Florida

Decided June 22, 1970. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 927 · 399 U.S. 78 (1970) · Cited 1,740 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 6–2.

“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.

• Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Thompson v. Utah · 170 U.S. 343 (1898)
• Smith v. Alabama · 124 U.S. 465 (1888)
• Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Patton v. United States · 281 U.S. 276 (1930)
• District of Columbia v. Clawans · 300 U.S. 617 (1937)
• Benton v. Maryland · 395 U.S. 784 (1969)
• Ker v. California · 374 U.S. 23 (1963)
• Missouri v. Lewis · 101 U.S. 22 (1880)
• Rassmussen v. United States · 197 U.S. 516 (1905)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Griffin v. California · 380 U.S. 609 (1965)
• Adamson v. California · 332 U.S. 46 (1947)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Klopfer v. North Carolina · 386 U.S. 213 (1967)
• Estes v. Texas · 381 U.S. 532 (1965)
• Wolf v. Colorado · 338 U.S. 25 (1949)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, Local 770 · 398 U.S. 235 (1970)
• Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc. · 398 U.S. 375 (1970)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• United States v. Lovett · 328 U.S. 303 (1946)
• United States v. Wong Kim Ark · 169 U.S. 649 (1898)
• Maxwell v. Dow · 176 U.S. 581 (1900)
• Salsburg v. Maryland · 346 U.S. 545 (1954)
• United States v. Wade · 388 U.S. 218 (1967)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Colgrove v. Battin · 413 U.S. 149 (1973)
• Ballew v. Georgia · 435 U.S. 223 (1978)
• Johnson v. Louisiana · 406 U.S. 356 (1972)
• Wardius v. Oregon · 412 U.S. 470 (1973)
• Apodaca v. Oregon · 406 U.S. 404 (1972)
• Burch v. Louisiana · 441 U.S. 130 (1979)
• Brown v. Louisiana · 447 U.S. 323 (1980)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Holland v. Illinois · 493 U.S. 474 (1990)
• Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts · 557 U.S. 305 (2009)
• Taylor v. Louisiana · 419 U.S. 522 (1975)
• McKeiver v. Pennsylvania · 403 U.S. 528 (1971)
• McGautha v. California · 402 U.S. 183 (1971)
• Oregon v. Ice · 555 U.S. 160 (2009)
• United States v. Rylander · 460 U.S. 752 (1983)
• Peters v. Kiff · 407 U.S. 493 (1972)
• Kaley v. United States · 571 U.S. 320 (2014)
• Michigan v. Lucas · 500 U.S. 145 (1991)
• Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodard · 523 U.S. 272 (1998)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Ludwig v. Massachusetts · 427 U.S. 618 (1976)
• United States v. Gaudin · 515 U.S. 506 (1995)
• Taylor v. Illinois · 484 U.S. 400 (1988)
• United States v. Nobles · 422 U.S. 225 (1975)
• Spaziano v. Florida · 468 U.S. 447 (1984)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Coolidge v. New Hampshire · 403 U.S. 443 (1971)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Collins v. Youngblood · 497 U.S. 37 (1990)

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).