Hutto v. Finney

Hutto v. Finney
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 21, 1978 Decided June 23, 1978
Full case name	Terrell Don Hutto, et al. v. Robert Finney, et al.
Docket no.	76-1660
Citations	437 U.S. 678 (more) 98 S. Ct. 2565; 57 L. Ed. 2d 522
Argument	Oral argument
Opinion announcement	Opinion announcement
Case history
Prior	Finney v. Hutto, 410 F. Supp. 251 (E.D. Ark. 1976) Finney v. Hutto, 548 F.2d 740 (8th Cir. 1977) Certiorari granted, 434 U.S. 901 (1977)
Holding
Upheld a number of limitations placed on the Arkansas Department of Corrections including a limit of punitive isolation to 30 days, a limit on the number of men in each cell, a requirement that each man have a bunk, and the discontinuation of a non-nutritious "grue" diet. Ignoring these limitations would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Stevens, joined by Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun; White (Part I); Burger, Powell (Parts I and II-A)
Concurrence	Brennan
Concur/dissent	Powell, joined by Burger; White, Rehnquist (dissent)
Dissent	Rehnquist, joined by White

Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978), is a landmark Supreme Court case against the Arkansas Department of Correction. The litigation lasted almost a decade, from 1969 through 1978. It was the first successful lawsuit filed by an inmate against a correctional institution. The case also clarified the Arkansas prison system's unacceptable punitive measures.^{[citation needed]} Hutto v. Finney was a certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.^[1]