Ross v. Oklahoma

487 U.S. 81 · Decided June 22, 1988 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Ross v. Oklahoma was decided on June 22, 1988 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Extra-legal jury influences, jurors and death penalty” in the Criminal Procedure 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

Ross v. Oklahoma

SCDB identifiers: case 1987-129, docket 1987-129-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Extra-legal jury influences, jurors and death penalty”

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Cases on the same legal provision: Sixth Amendment (right to trial by jury)

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• United States v. Jerry J. Nachtigal
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Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Carpenter v. United States
  484 U.S. 19Decided November 16, 19878–0Byron R. White
• Yates v. Aiken
  484 U.S. 211Decided January 12, 19888–0John Paul Stevens
• Lowenfield v. Phelps
  484 U.S. 231Decided January 13, 19885–3William H. Rehnquist
• Taylor v. Illinois
  484 U.S. 400Decided January 25, 19885–3John Paul Stevens
• United States v. Owens
  484 U.S. 554Decided February 23, 19886–2Antonin Scalia
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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