Washington v. Harold Glucksberg
521 U.S. 702 · Decided June 26, 1997 · 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
Washington v. Harold Glucksberg was decided on June 26, 1997 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Right to die” in the Privacy area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 521 U.S. 702 · 117 S. Ct. 2258 · 138 L. Ed. 2d 772 · 1997 U.S. LEXIS 4039
- Docket number
- 96-110
- Decided
- June 26, 1997
- Argued
- January 8, 1997
- Court era
- Rehnquist Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 9–0 (unanimous)
- Majority opinion
- William H. Rehnquist
- Opinion assigned by
- William H. Rehnquist
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Right to die
- Issue area
- Privacy
- Legal provision
- Fourteenth Amendment (due process)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority | |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Majority | |
| Justice David H. Souter | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Majority | |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Stephen G. Breyer | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
Full case caption
Washington, et al. v. Harold Glucksberg et al.
SCDB identifiers: case 1996-091, docket 1996-091-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Right to die”
Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (due process)
- William R. Pounders v. Penelope Watson
- Kansas v. Leroy Hendricks
- James E. Gilbert v. Richard Homar
- Newsweek, Inc. v. Florida Department of Revenue
- Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Eugene Woodard
- County of Sacramento v. Teri Lewis and Thomas Lewis
Same Term, same area (Privacy)
- D. Dean Bibles v. Oregon Natural Desert Association
- Paul Schenck and Dwight Saunders v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York
- Martin D. Lambert v. Susan Wicklund
- Walker L. Chandler v. Zell D. MillerLaw held unconstitutional
- Joseph P. Mazurek v. James H. Armstrong
- Dennis C. Vacco v. Timothy E. Quill
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