Arizona v. Fulminante
499 U.S. 279 · Decided March 26, 1991 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Arizona v. Fulminante was decided on March 26, 1991 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Involuntary confession” in the Criminal Procedure area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 499 U.S. 279 · 111 S. Ct. 1246 · 113 L. Ed. 2d 302 · 1991 U.S. LEXIS 1854
- Docket number
- 89-839
- Decided
- March 26, 1991
- Argued
- October 10, 1990
- Court era
- Rehnquist Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- Byron R. White
- Opinion assigned by
- Byron R. White
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Involuntary confession
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- Fourteenth Amendment (due process)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Altered precedent
- Yes — formally altered the Court's precedent
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Thurgood Marshall | Majority | |
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Majority | |
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Majority | |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Dissent | |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority | |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice David H. Souter | Dissent |
Full case caption
Arizona v. Fulminante
SCDB identifiers: case 1990-051, docket 1990-051-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Involuntary confession”
- Colorado v. Spring
- Colorado v. Connelly
- Crane v. Kentucky
- Lanier v. South Carolina
- Taylor v. Alabama
- Dunaway v. New York
Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (due process)
- Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Cleopatra Haslip
- Bryan Stuart Lankford v. Idaho
- Connecticut and John F. Digiovanni v. Brian K. DoehrLaw held unconstitutional
- Edward Harold Schad, Jr. v. Arizona
- Tommy Cage v. Louisiana
- Wayne Estelle v. Mark Owen McGuire
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- Robert Lee Shell v. Mississippi
- Tommy Cage v. Louisiana
- R. Dobie Langenkamp v. C. A. Culp
- Raymond J. Moskal, Sr. v. United States
- Robert S. Minnick v. Mississippi
- Richard Demarest v. James
Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error