California v. Ramos

463 U.S. 992 · Decided July 6, 1983 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

California v. Ramos was decided on July 6, 1983 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the opinion 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

Full case caption

California v. Ramos

SCDB identifiers: case 1982-162, docket 1982-162-01.

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

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Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

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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