Phyle v. Duffy
334 U.S. 431 · Decided June 7, 1948 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Phyle v. Duffy was decided on June 7, 1948 unanimously (9–0). SCDB codes the disposition as “petition denied or appeal dismissed.” Justice Hugo L. Black 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
Case details
- Citations
- 334 U.S. 431 · 68 S. Ct. 1131 · 92 L. Ed. 2d 1494 · 1948 U.S. LEXIS 2083
- Docket number
- 655
- Decided
- June 7, 1948
- Argued
- April 20, 1948
- Court era
- Vinson Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 9–0 (unanimous)
- Majority opinion
- Hugo L. Black
- Opinion assigned by
- Fred M. Vinson
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Majority | |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Concurrence | |
| Justice Frank Murphy | Concurrence | |
| Justice Robert H. Jackson | Majority | |
| Justice Wiley B. Rutledge | Concurrence | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson | Majority |
Full case caption
Phyle v. Duffy, Warden
SCDB identifiers: case 1947-093, docket 1947-093-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty”
- Louisiana ex Rel. Francis v. Resweber
- Rosenberg v. United States
- Rosenberg v. United States
- Rosenberg v. United States.
- Caritativo v. California
- United States v. JacksonLaw held unconstitutional
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- Rodgers v. United States
- Blumenthal v. United States
- Marino v. Ragen
- Sealfon v. United States
- United States v. Di re
- Haley v. Ohio
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