Robert L. Ayers, Jr. v. Fernando Belmontes

549 U.S. 7 · Decided October 13, 2006 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Robert L. Ayers, Jr. v. Fernando Belmontes was decided on October 13, 2006 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.

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

Robert L. Ayers, Jr., Acting Warden v. Fernando Belmontes

SCDB identifiers: case 2006-002, docket 2006-002-01.

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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