William Arthur Kelly v. South Carolina

534 U.S. 246 · Decided January 9, 2002 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

William Arthur Kelly v. South Carolina was decided on January 9, 2002 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice David H. Souter wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Extra-legal jury influences, jury instructions” 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

William Arthur Kelly v. South Carolina

SCDB identifiers: case 2001-014, docket 2001-014-01.

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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