Eddings v. Oklahoma
- Decided
- January 19, 1982
- Docket
- 80-5727
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,271 timesOverruled on other grounds (not yet verified)Possible negative treatment: overruled on other grounds (not yet verified) · Ricks, Cedric Allen
What later courts said
- holding that the capital sentencer may not be prevented from considering any relevant mitigating evidence presented by the defendant — Nelson v. Quarterman (2006)
- holding that “[t]he sentencer, and the Court of Criminal Appeals on review, may determine the weight to be given relevant mitigating evidence” — Lopez v. Ryan (2011)
- holding that a trial court must not preclude the jury from considering any aspect of the defendant’s character or circumstances as a mitigating factor — State of Arizona v. Shawna Forde (2014)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Justice Powell delivered the opinion of the Court.
Petitioner Monty Lee Eddings was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. • Because this sentence was imposed without “the type of individualized consideration of mitigating factors . . . required by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments in capital cases,” Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U. S. 586, 606 (1978) (opinion of Burger, C. J.), we reverse.
I
Cite this
Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104 (1982)Read the full opinion
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