Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989)

E576851

Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989), was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that held the Eighth Amendment did not categorically bar the execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities, a stance later reversed by Atkins v. Virginia.

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case ⓘ
criminal law case ⓘ
death penalty case ⓘ
areaOfLaw capital punishment ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ
criminal procedure ⓘ
arguedDate 1988-10-11 ⓘ
citation 492 U.S. 302 ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
court Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate 1989-06-26 ⓘ
dissentingJustices Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ
John Paul Stevens ⓘ
Thurgood Marshall ⓘ
William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ
docketNumber 87-6177 ⓘ
holding Texas’s special-issue capital sentencing scheme did not allow the jury to give full mitigating effect to evidence of Penry’s intellectual disability and childhood abuse ⓘ
The Eighth Amendment does not categorically prohibit the execution of persons with intellectual disabilities ⓘ
joinedByInMajority Anthony M. Kennedy ⓘ
Antonin Scalia ⓘ
Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ
John Paul Stevens ⓘ
Thurgood Marshall ⓘ
William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ
jurisdiction Texas ⓘ
languageOfOpinion English ⓘ
legalIssue Whether Texas’s capital sentencing instructions permitted adequate consideration of mitigating evidence ⓘ
Whether execution of a person with intellectual disability violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy Sandra Day O’Connor ⓘ
originatingCourt United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ⓘ
petitioner Johnny Paul Penry ⓘ
rearguedDate 1989-03-27 ⓘ
relatedCase Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) ⓘ
linked to: Atkins v. Virginia

Penry v. Johnson, 532 U.S. 782 (2001) ⓘ
respondent James A. Lynaugh ⓘ
respondentOffice Director, Texas Department of Corrections ⓘ
result Judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part ⓘ
subsequentHistory Position on categorical execution of persons with intellectual disabilities overruled by Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) ⓘ
topic intellectual disability and the death penalty ⓘ
mitigating evidence in capital sentencing ⓘ
vote 5–4 on the adequacy of Texas’s sentencing instructions ⓘ
6–3 on the Eighth Amendment categorical bar question ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

opinion in Atkins v. Virginia → overruledPrecedentCitation → Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989) ⓘ
Atkins v. Virginia → overruledPrecedent → Penry v. Lynaugh ⓘ
linked to: Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
Penry v. Lynaugh → fullName → Penry v. Lynaugh ⓘ
linked to: Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989)
Montgomery v. Louisiana → relatedCase → Penry v. Lynaugh ⓘ
linked to: Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989)