Adams v. Texas

Adams v. Texas

Argued March 24, 1980
Decided June 25, 1980
Full case name Randall Dale Adams v. State of Texas
Citations

448 U.S. 38 (more)

100 S.Ct. 2521, 65 L.Ed.2d 581
Prior history Certiorari to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
Subsequent history 577 S. W. 2d 717, reversed.
Holding
A Texas requirement that jurors swear an oath that the mandatory imposition of a death sentence would not interfere with their consideration of factual matters such as guilt or innocence during a trial is unconstitutional.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Case opinions
Majority White, joined by Brennan, Stewart, Blackmun, Powell, Stevens
Concurrence Burger
Concurrence Marshall
Dissent Rehnquist

Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held on an 8–1 vote that, consistent with its prior opinion in Witherspoon v. Illinois, a Texas requirement that jurors swear an oath that the mandatory imposition of a death sentence would not interfere with their consideration of factual matters such as guilt or innocence during a trial was unconstitutional.

The surrounding factual issues (involving defendant Randall Dale Adams) were the subject of a partially autobiographical book of the same name, and were featured in the 1988 movie The Thin Blue Line.

Further reading

External links

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