Bell v. Ohio

438 U.S. 637 · Decided July 3, 1978 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Bell v. Ohio was decided on July 3, 1978 by a vote of 7–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion announcing the judgment of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty” in the Criminal Procedure area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: William J. Brennan Jr..

Full case caption

Bell v. Ohio

SCDB identifiers: case 1977-154, docket 1977-154-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty”

• Lockett v. OhioLaw held unconstitutional
  438 U.S. 586Decided July 3, 19787–1Warren E. Burger
• Presnell v. Georgia
  439 U.S. 14Decided November 6, 19786–3Per curiam
• Green v. Georgia
  442 U.S. 95Decided May 29, 19798–1Per curiam
• Coker v. GeorgiaLaw held unconstitutional
  433 U.S. 584Decided June 29, 19777–2Byron R. White
• Roberts v. LouisianaLaw held unconstitutional
  431 U.S. 633Decided June 6, 19775–4Per curiam
• Darden v. Florida
  430 U.S. 704Decided April 19, 19777–2Per curiam

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Cases on the same legal provision: Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment)

• Ingraham v. Wright
  430 U.S. 651Decided April 19, 19775–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Estelle v. Gamble
  429 U.S. 97Decided November 30, 19768–1Thurgood Marshall
• Rummel v. Estelle
  445 U.S. 263Decided March 18, 19805–4William H. Rehnquist
• Rhodes v. Chapman
  452 U.S. 337Decided June 15, 19818–1Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Hutto v. Davis
  454 U.S. 370Decided January 11, 19826–3Per curiam
• Solem v. Helm
  463 U.S. 277Decided June 28, 19835–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Rinaldi v. United States
  434 U.S. 22Decided November 7, 19776–3Per curiam
• Pennsylvania v. Mimms
  434 U.S. 106Decided December 5, 19776–3Per curiam
• United States v. New York Telephone Co.
  434 U.S. 159Decided December 7, 19775–4Byron R. White
• Moore v. Illinois
  434 U.S. 220Decided December 12, 19778–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Smith v. Digmon
  434 U.S. 332Decided January 16, 19789–0Per curiam
• Bordenkircher v. Hayes
  434 U.S. 357Decided January 18, 19785–4Potter Stewart

See all

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