Rummel v. Estelle

Rummel v. Estelle
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 7, 1980
Decided March 18, 1980
Full case nameWilliam James Rummel v. Estelle, Corrections Director
Citations445 U.S. 263 (more)
100 S. Ct. 1133; 63 L. Ed. 2d 382; 1980 U.S. LEXIS 90
Holding
The Texas state court's decision was affirmed, that life in prison with possibility of parole is not cruel and unusual punishment for a habitual offender convicted of passing bad checks.
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
MajorityRehnquist, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun
ConcurrenceStewart
DissentPowell, joined by Brennan, Marshall, Stevens

Rummel v. Estelle, 445 U.S. 263 (1980), (sometimes erroneously cited as Rummel v. Estell) was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld a life sentence with the possibility of parole under Texas' three strikes law for a felony fraud crime, where the offense and the defendant's two prior offenses involved approximately $230 of fraudulent activity (worth $847 in 2023 dollars, or about four 40-hour weeks at the contemporary Texas minimum wage of $1.40/hour).[1][2][3]

  1. ^ FindLaw|Cases and Codes
  2. ^ CPI Inflation Calculator
  3. ^ }Changes in Basic Minimum Wages in Non-Farm Employment Under State Law: Selected Years 1968 to 2022, U.S. Dept. of Labor