Keith Smith v. Frank G. Spisak, Jr.

558 U.S. 139 · Decided January 12, 2010 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Keith Smith v. Frank G. Spisak, Jr. was decided on January 12, 2010 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Stephen G. Breyer 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

Keith Smith, Warden v. Frank G. Spisak, Jr.

SCDB identifiers: case 2009-020, docket 2009-020-01.

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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