Lockett v. Ohio

Petitioner

Sandra Lockett

Respondent

State of Ohio

Petitioner's Claim

That the Ohio death penalty statute--which limited the number of mitigating factors that a judge passing sentence could take into account--was unconstitutional.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Anthony G. Amsterdam

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Carl M. Layman III

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger (writing for the Court), Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens, Potter Stewart

Justices Dissenting

William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White (William J. Brennan, Jr. did not participate)

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

3 July 1978

Decision

That the death penalty is so severe, it requires greater reliability than other penalties, and so statutes that limit the mitigating factors that a sentencer may take into account are indeed violations of the Eighth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment.

Related Cases

• United States v. Jackson, 390 U.S. 570 (1968).
• Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510 (1968).
• Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972).
• Smith v. North Carolina, 459 U.S. 1056 (1982).
• Jones v. Illinois, 464 U.S. 920 (1983).
• Straight v. Wainwright, 476 U.S. 1132 (1986).
• Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168 (1986).

Sources

West's Encyclopedia of American Law. St. Paul, MN: West Group, 1998.

Sources

Knappman, Edward W. Great American Trials. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 1994.