Lowenfield v. Phelps

484 U.S. 231 · Decided January 13, 1988 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Lowenfield v. Phelps was decided on January 13, 1988 by a vote of 5–3. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist 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

Lowenfield v. Phelps, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Corrections, et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1987-018, docket 1987-018-01.

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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