Rock v. Arkansas

483 U.S. 44 · Decided June 22, 1987 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Rock v. Arkansas was decided on June 22, 1987 by a vote of 5–4. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Confrontation of witnesses” 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

Rock v. Arkansas

SCDB identifiers: case 1986-138, docket 1986-138-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Confrontation of witnesses”

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• Richardson v. Marsh
  481 U.S. 200Decided April 21, 19876–3Antonin Scalia
• Taylor v. Illinois
  484 U.S. 400Decided January 25, 19885–3John Paul Stevens
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  484 U.S. 554Decided February 23, 19886–2Antonin Scalia
• New Mexico v. Earnest
  477 U.S. 648Decided June 27, 19869–0Per curiam

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (due process)

• Rivera v. Minnich
  483 U.S. 574Decided June 25, 19878–1John Paul Stevens
• Greer v. Miller
  483 U.S. 756Decided June 26, 19876–3Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Board of Pardons v. Allen
  482 U.S. 369Decided June 9, 19876–3William J. Brennan Jr.
• Martin v. Ohio
  480 U.S. 228Decided February 25, 19875–4Byron R. White
• Pennsylvania v. Ritchie
  480 U.S. 39Decided February 24, 19875–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Asahi Metal Industry Co., Ltd. v. Superior Court of California
  480 U.S. 102Decided February 24, 19879–0Sandra Day O'Connor

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Colorado v. Connelly
  479 U.S. 157Decided December 10, 19867–2William H. Rehnquist
• Griffith v. Kentucky
  479 U.S. 314Decided January 13, 19876–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Colorado v. Bertine
  479 U.S. 367Decided January 14, 19877–2William H. Rehnquist
• Connecticut v. Barrett
  479 U.S. 523Decided January 27, 19877–2William H. Rehnquist
• California v. Brown
  479 U.S. 538Decided January 27, 19875–4William H. Rehnquist
• Colorado v. Spring
  479 U.S. 564Decided January 27, 19877–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.

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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