Adams v. Texas
Appearance
(Redirected from 448 U.S. 38)
Adams v. Texas | |
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Argued March 24, 1980 Decided June 25, 1980 | |
Full case name | Randall Dale Adams v. State of Texas |
Citations | 448 U.S. 38 (more) 100 S. Ct. 2521; 65 L. Ed. 2d 581 |
Case history | |
Prior | Certiorari to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas |
Subsequent | 577 S.W.2d 717, reversed. |
Holding | |
A Texas requirement that jurors swear an oath that the mandatory imposition of a death sentence would not interfere with their consideration of factual matters such as guilt or innocence during a trial is unconstitutional. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | White, joined by Brennan, Stewart, Blackmun, Powell, Stevens |
Concurrence | Burger (in the judgment) |
Concurrence | Brennan |
Concurrence | Marshall |
Dissent | Rehnquist |
Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held on an 8–1 vote that, consistent with its prior opinion in Witherspoon v. Illinois, a Texas requirement that jurors swear an oath that the mandatory imposition of a death sentence would not interfere with their consideration of factual matters such as guilt or innocence during a trial was unconstitutional.
The surrounding factual issues (involving defendant Randall Dale Adams) were the subject of a partially autobiographical book of the same name, and were featured in the 1988 movie The Thin Blue Line.
Further reading
[edit]- Gillers, Stephen (1985). "Proving the Prejudice of Death-Qualified Juries after Adams v. Texas". University of Pittsburgh Law Review. 47 (1): 219–255.
External links
[edit]- Text of Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38 (1980) is available from: Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)
- Adams v. The Death Penalty