Supreme Court of the United States
Eddings v. Oklahoma
January 19, 1982455 U.S. 104
Summary
The Supreme Court held that Oklahoma's sentencing scheme violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments by refusing to consider certain mitigating evidence, reversed the death sentence and remanded for resentencing, and declined to decide whether the death penalty may be imposed on a 16‑year‑old offender.
Holding
- Whether Oklahoma's sentencing scheme, which excluded consideration of certain mitigating evidence, violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments under Lockett v. Ohio.. Yes. The scheme violated the Amendments because the trial judge and the Court of Criminal Appeals barred consideration of relevant mitigating evidence as a matter of law; the death sentence is unconstitutional and must be vacated.
- Whether the Court should decide the constitutionality of imposing the death penalty on a 16‑year‑old offender.. The Court declined to decide that question and limited its decision to the Lockett issue.
Docket 80-5727
Cited authorities
- Rule 1.18
- 28 U.S.C. § 2106
- 58 Colum. L. Rev. 183
Cited by
- Scott D. Clabourne, Petitioner-Appellant v. Charles L. Ryan, Respondent-Appellee
- Mark Roy Liles, Appellant v. State of Oklahoma, Appellee
- Ronald Keith Boyd, Appellant v. the State of Oklahoma, Appellee
- Sean Richard Sellers, Appellant v. State of Oklahoma, Appellee
- Kenneth Wayne Paxton, Appellant v. State of Oklahoma, Appellee
- Roger James Berget, Petitioner v. State of Oklahoma, Appellee
- The People of the State of Illinois, Appellee v. John E. Whitehead, Appellant
- State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Marko Bey (I), Defendant-Appellant