Lewis v. Jeffers

497 U.S. 764 · Decided June 27, 1990 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Lewis v. Jeffers was decided on June 27, 1990 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

Lewis, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, et al. v. Jeffers

SCDB identifiers: case 1989-139, docket 1989-139-01.

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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