Ford v. Wainwright | |
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Argued April 22, 1986 Decided June 26, 1986 | |
Full case name | Ford v. Wainwright |
Docket no. | 85-5542 |
Citations | 477 U.S. 399 (more) 106 S. Ct. 2595; 91 L. Ed. 2d 335; 1986 U.S. LEXIS 64; 54 U.S.L.W. 4799 |
Argument | Oral argument |
Case history | |
Prior | Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit |
Subsequent | Post-conviction relief denied at, Writ of habeas corpus denied Ford v. State, 522 So. 2d 345 (Fla., 1988) |
Holding | |
The Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of the insane. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Marshall (parts I and II), joined by Brennan, Blackmun, Powell, Stevens |
Plurality | Marshall (parts III, IV and V), joined by Brennan, Blackmun, Stevens |
Concurrence | Powell (in part and in judgment) |
Concur/dissent | O'Connor, joined by White |
Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by Burger |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV |
Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the common law rule that the insane cannot be executed; therefore the petitioner is entitled to a competency evaluation and to an evidentiary hearing in court on the question of their competency to be executed.[1]