Payne v. Tennessee
| Payne v. Tennessee | |
|---|---|
| Argued April 24, 1991 Decided June 27, 1991 | |
| Full case name | Pervis Tyrone Payne v. Tennessee |
| Citations | 501 U.S. 808 (more) 111 S.Ct. 2597; 115 L. Ed. 2d 720 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | State v. Payne, 791 S.W.2d 10 (Tenn. 1990); cert. granted, 498 U.S. 1076 (1991). |
| Holding | |
| The admission of a victim impact statement does not violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Rehnquist, joined by White, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter |
| Concurrence | O'Connor, joined by White, Kennedy |
| Concurrence | Scalia, joined by O'Connor, Kennedy |
| Concurrence | Souter, joined by Kennedy |
| Dissent | Marshall, joined by Blackmun |
| Dissent | Stevens, joined by Blackmun |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV | |
This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings | |
| Booth v. Maryland (1987) South Carolina v. Gathers (1989) | |
Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991), was a United States Supreme Court case, authored by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, which held that testimony in the form of a victim impact statement is admissible during the sentencing phase of a trial and, in death penalty cases, does not violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment. Payne overturned two of the Courts' precedents: Booth v. Maryland (1987) and South Carolina v. Gathers (1989).