Morgan v. Illinois

Morgan v. Illinois, 504 U.S. 719 (1992), is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court.

Morgan v. Illinois
Argued January 21, 1992
Decided June 15, 1992
Full case nameDerrick Morgan v. State of Illinois
Citations504 U.S. 719 (more)
112 S. Ct. 2222; 119 L. Ed. 2d 492; 1992 U.S. LEXIS 3548; 60 U.S.L.W. 4541; 92 Cal. Daily Op. Service 5037; 92 Daily Journal DAR 7962; 6 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 421
Case history
PriorCertiorari to the Supreme Court of Illinois
Holding
A defendant facing the death penalty may challenge for cause a prospective juror who would automatically vote to impose the death penalty in every case.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
Byron White · Harry Blackmun
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
David Souter · Clarence Thomas
Case opinions
MajorityWhite, joined by Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter
DissentScalia, joined by Rehnquist, Thomas
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. VI

Background

In an elaboration of the Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968) doctrine, the Rehnquist Court considered challenges to the selection of jurors who would automatically vote to impose the death penalty on a defendant convicted of a capital offense. In a 6-3 decision, Justice White wrote for the majority that a defendant facing the death penalty may challenge for cause a prospective juror who would automatically vote to impose the death penalty in every case. Just as a juror who is unalterably opposed to the imposition of the death penalty must be excluded because he or she cannot conscientiously fulfill the oath to follow the law and the instructions to the jury pursuant thereto, so should one who would automatically vote to impose the death penalty be excluded for the same reason. Such a juror, he emphasized, would lack the qualities of impartiality and indifference required by due process. Furthermore, Justice White noted, jurors who would automatically vote to impose the death penalty would not "in good faith ... consider evidence of aggravating and mitigating circumstances" as may be required by law and included in jury instructions.

See also

Further reading
  • Belt, John C. (1994). "Morgan v. Illinois: The Right to Balance Capital Sentencing Juries as to Their Views on the Death Sentence Is Finally Granted to Defendants". New Mexico Law Review. 24 (1): 145–170.
  • Dillehay, Ronald C.; Sandys, Marla R. (1996). "Life under Wainwright v. Witt: Juror Dispositions and Death Qualification". Law and Human Behavior. 20 (2): 147–165. doi:10.1007/BF01499352.
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