Smith v. Florida

405 U.S. 172 · Decided February 24, 1972 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Smith v. Florida was decided on February 24, 1972 unanimously (7–0). The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice William O. Douglas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Due process, miscellaneous” in the Due Process area.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: Lewis F. Powell Jr., William H. Rehnquist.

Full case caption

Smith et al. v. Florida

SCDB identifiers: case 1971-063, docket 1971-063-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Due process, miscellaneous”

• Giglio v. United States
  405 U.S. 150Decided February 24, 19727–0Warren E. Burger
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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (due process)

• D. H. Overmyer Co., Inc. v. Frick Co.
  405 U.S. 174Decided February 24, 19727–0Harry A. Blackmun
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  405 U.S. 191Decided February 24, 19726–1Harry A. Blackmun
• Lindsey v. NormetLaw held unconstitutional
  405 U.S. 56Decided February 23, 19725–2Byron R. White
• Rabe v. Washington
  405 U.S. 313Decided March 20, 19729–0Per curiam
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  405 U.S. 473Decided March 22, 19725–4Potter Stewart
• In re Little
  404 U.S. 553Decided January 24, 19729–0Per curiam

Same Term, same area (Due Process)

• Arciniega v. Freeman, U.S. Marshal
  404 U.S. 4Decided October 26, 19717–0Per curiam
• Younger v. Gilmore
  404 U.S. 15Decided November 8, 19717–0Per curiam
• Jennings v. Mahoney
  404 U.S. 25Decided November 9, 19717–0Per curiam
• Groppi v. Leslie
  404 U.S. 496Decided January 13, 19727–0Warren E. Burger
• Giglio v. United States
  405 U.S. 150Decided February 24, 19727–0Warren E. Burger
• Papachristou v. City of JacksonvilleLaw held unconstitutional
  405 U.S. 156Decided February 24, 19727–0William O. Douglas

See all

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