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Greer v. Beto

384 U.S. 269 · Decided May 23, 1966 · Supreme Court of the United States

Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.

At a glance

Greer v. Beto was decided on May 23, 1966 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. The decision was issued per curiam (an unsigned opinion of the Court). SCDB classifies its main issue as “Right to counsel” in the Criminal Procedure area.

Read the opinion

Case details

Citations
384 U.S. 269 · 86 S. Ct. 1477 · 16 L. Ed. 2d 526 · 1966 U.S. LEXIS 1588
Docket number
720 M
Decided
May 23, 1966
Court era
Warren Court
Decision type
Per curiam (no oral argument)
Disposition
Reversed
Outcome for petitioner
The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
Vote
8–1
Opinion assigned by
Earl Warren
How the case arrived
Certiorari
Issue (SCDB)
Right to counsel
Decision direction (SCDB)
Liberal what this means

How the Justices voted

JusticeVoteSeparate writing
Justice Hugo L. BlackMajority
Justice William O. DouglasMajority
Justice Tom C. ClarkMajority
Chief Justice Earl WarrenMajority
Justice John M. Harlan IIJurisdictional dissentWrote an opinion
Justice William J. Brennan Jr.Majority
Justice Potter StewartMajority
Justice Byron R. WhiteMajority
Justice Abe FortasMajority

Full case caption

Greer v. Beto, Corrections Director

SCDB identifiers: case 1965-111, docket 1965-111-01.

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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