Booth v. Maryland

482 U.S. 496 · Decided June 15, 1987 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Booth v. Maryland was decided on June 15, 1987 by a vote of 5–4. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty” in the Criminal Procedure area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Booth v. Maryland

SCDB identifiers: case 1986-127, docket 1986-127-01.

Related decisions

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

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  483 U.S. 66Decided June 22, 19876–3Harry A. Blackmun
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• Hitchcock v. Dugger
  481 U.S. 393Decided April 22, 19879–0Antonin Scalia
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  481 U.S. 137Decided April 21, 19875–4Sandra Day O'Connor
• Lowenfield v. Phelps
  484 U.S. 231Decided January 13, 19885–3William H. Rehnquist
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  477 U.S. 399Decided June 26, 19865–4Thurgood Marshall

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

• California v. Brown
  479 U.S. 538Decided January 27, 19875–4William H. Rehnquist
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  475 U.S. 312Decided March 4, 19865–4Sandra Day O'Connor
• Murray v. Giarratano
  492 U.S. 1Decided June 23, 19895–4William H. Rehnquist
• Solem v. Helm
  463 U.S. 277Decided June 28, 19835–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Pearly L. Wilson v. Richard Seiter
  501 U.S. 294Decided June 17, 19915–4Antonin Scalia
• Ronald Allen Harmelin v. Michigan
  501 U.S. 957Decided June 27, 19915–4Antonin Scalia

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Colorado v. Connelly
  479 U.S. 157Decided December 10, 19867–2William H. Rehnquist
• Griffith v. Kentucky
  479 U.S. 314Decided January 13, 19876–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Colorado v. Bertine
  479 U.S. 367Decided January 14, 19877–2William H. Rehnquist
• Connecticut v. Barrett
  479 U.S. 523Decided January 27, 19877–2William H. Rehnquist
• California v. Brown
  479 U.S. 538Decided January 27, 19875–4William H. Rehnquist
• Colorado v. Spring
  479 U.S. 564Decided January 27, 19877–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.

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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