George Smith v. Lee Robbins

528 U.S. 259 · Decided January 19, 2000 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

George Smith v. Lee Robbins was decided on January 19, 2000 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Indigents, appointment of counsel” in the Civil Rights area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

George Smith, Warden v. Lee Robbins

SCDB identifiers: case 1999-023, docket 1999-023-01.

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Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error