Smith v. Arizona
144 S. Ct. 1785 · Decided June 21, 2024 · 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
Smith v. Arizona was decided on June 21, 2024 unanimously (9–0). The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Elena Kagan 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
- Supreme Court of the United States — slip opinions, October Term 2023
- Supreme Court of the United States — docket 22-899
Case details
- Citations
- 144 S. Ct. 1785 · 219 L. Ed. 2d 420 · 2024 U.S. LEXIS 2712
- Docket number
- 22-899
- Decided
- June 21, 2024
- Argued
- January 10, 2024
- Court era
- Roberts Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 9–0 (unanimous)
- Majority opinion
- Elena Kagan
- Opinion assigned by
- John G. Roberts Jr.
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Confrontation of witnesses
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- Sixth Amendment (right to confront and cross-examine, compulsory process)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. | Special concurrence | |
| Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Sonia Sotomayor | Majority | |
| Justice Elena Kagan | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Neil M. Gorsuch | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh | Majority | |
| Justice Amy Coney Barrett | Majority | |
| Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson | Majority |
Full case caption
Smith v. Arizona
SCDB identifiers: case 2023-027, docket 2023-027-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Confrontation of witnesses”
- Samia v. United States
- Pitts v. Mississippi
- Hemphill v. New York
- Ohio v. Clark
- Williams v. Illinois
- Marcus Hardy v. Irving L. Cross
Cases on the same legal provision: Sixth Amendment (right to confront and cross-examine, compulsory process)
- Clark v. Sweeney
- Leonard Portuondo v. Ray Agard
- Crane v. Kentucky
- Berger v. California
- Roberts v. Russell
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- McElrath v. Georgia
- Pulsifer v. United States
- McIntosh v. United States
- Brown v. United States
- Thornell v. Jones
- Garland v. Cargill
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