Willie Lee Richmond v. Samuel A. Lewis

506 U.S. 40 · Decided December 1, 1992 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Willie Lee Richmond v. Samuel A. Lewis was decided on December 1, 1992 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor 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

Willie Lee Richmond v. Samuel A. Lewis, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1992-006, docket 1992-006-01.

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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