Kennedy v. Louisiana

554 U.S. 407 · Decided June 25, 2008 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Kennedy v. Louisiana was decided on June 25, 2008 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy 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

Kennedy v. Louisiana

SCDB identifiers: case 2007-068, docket 2007-068-01.

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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