Pulley v. Harris

Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37 (1984), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not require, as an invariable rule in every case, that a state appellate court, before it affirms a death sentence, proportionally compare the sentence in the case before it with the penalties imposed in similar cases if requested to do so by the prisoner.[1]

Pulley v. Harris
Argued November 7, 1983
Decided January 23, 1984
Full case namePulley v. Harris
Citations465 U.S. 37 (more)
104 S. Ct. 871; 79 L. Ed. 2d 29; 1984 U.S. LEXIS 3
Case history
Priorvacating death sentence, 692 F.2d 1189, (9th Cir. 1982).
Holding
The Eighth Amendment does not require, as an invariable rule in every case, that a state appellate court, before it affirms a death sentence, compare the sentence in the case before it with the penalties imposed in similar cases if requested to do so by the prisoner.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
MajorityWhite, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist, O'Connor; Stevens (except Part III)
ConcurrenceStevens
DissentBrennan, joined by Marshall
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. VIII

The prisoner in the case, Robert Alton Harris, was ultimately executed in April 1992, after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit several more times in the matter, including after Harris had been strapped into the gas chamber.[2]

See also

References

  1. Mayell, Manvin S. (Autumn 1984). "Eighth Amendment. Proportionality Review of Death Sentences Not Required". Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 75 (3): 839–854. doi:10.2307/1143646. JSTOR 1143646.
  2. Caminker, Evan; Chemerinsky, Erwin (October 1992). "The Lawless Execution of Robert Alton Harris". Yale Law Journal. 102 (1): 225. doi:10.2307/796775. JSTOR 796775. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
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