Solesbee v. Balkcom, Warden (339 U.S. 9)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 20, 1950 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 339 U.S. 9 · 70 S. Ct. 457
- Docket
- No. 77
- Argued
- November 15, 1949
- Decided
- February 20, 1950
- Term
- October Term 1949
- Vote
- 7–1
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Minton, Justice Clark, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Reed, Justice Black (wrote)
- Dissenting
- Justice Frankfurter (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioner was convicted of murder in a Georgia state court. His sentence was death by electrocution. Subsequently he asked the Governor to postpone execution on the ground that after conviction and sentence he had become insane. Acting under authority granted by § 27-2602 of the Georgia Code the Governor appointed three physicians who examined petitioner and declared him sane. Petitioner then filed this habeas corpus proceeding again alleging his insanity. He contended that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment required that his claim of insanity after sentence be originally determined by a judicial or administrative tribunal after notice and hearings in which he could be represented by counsel, cross-examine witnesses and offer evidence. He further contended that if the tribunal was administrative its findings must be subject to judicial review. The trial court sustained the constitutional validity of § 27-2602, holding that determination of petitioner’s sanity by the Governor supported by the report of physicians had met the standards of due process. The State Supreme Court affirmed, 205 Ga. 122, 52 S. E. 2d 433. The constitutional questions being substantial, see Phyle v. Duffy, 334 U. S. 431, 439, the case is here on appeal under 28 U. S. C. § 1257 (2). In affirming, the State Supreme Court held that a…
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