2017 United States Supreme Court case
| Buck v. Davis | |
|---|---|
 Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Argued October 5, 2016 Decided February 22, 2017 | |
| Full case name | Duane Edward Buck v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
| Docket no. | 15-8049 |
| Citations | 580 U.S. ___ (more)137 S. Ct. 759; 197 L. Ed. 2d 1 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Buck v. Stephens, 623 F. App'x 668 (5th Cir. 2015); cert. granted, 136 S. Ct. 2409 (2016). |
| Procedural | On writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit |
| Subsequent | 865 F.3d 215 (5th Cir. 2017) |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Roberts, joined by Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan |
| Dissent | Thomas, joined by Alito |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. VI | |
Buck v. Davis, 580 U.S. ___ (2017), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court reversed the death sentence of the defendant Duane Buck after the defendant's attorney introduced evidence that suggested the defendant would be more likely to commit violent acts in the future because he was black.
Opinion of the Court
In a 6-2 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court held that the defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel under Strickland v. Washington. Chief Justice Roberts' ruling rejected the District Court's argument that the discussion of race at trial was de minimis and therefore not prejudicial. Rather, Chief Justice Roberts wrote: "when a jury hears expert testimony that expressly makes a defendant’s race directly pertinent on the question of life or death, the impact of that evidence cannot be measured simply by how much air time it received at trial or how many pages it occupies in the record. Some toxins can be deadly in small doses."
See also
- List of United States Supreme Court cases
- Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume
- List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Roberts Court
References
- Buck v. Davis, No. 15-8049, 580 U.S. ___ (2017).
- The Supreme Court, 2016 Term — Leading Cases, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 263 (2017).
- Buck, slip op. at 15-20 (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)).
- Buck, slip op. at 19.
- Buck, slip op. at 19-20.
External links
- Text of Buck v. Davis, 580 U.S. ___ (2017) is available from: Google Scholar Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion)
- Case page at SCOTUSblog