Lockhart v. McCree
United States Supreme Court
476 U.S. 162 (1986)
During voir dire in McCree's (defendant's) capital murder trial, the court removed for cause, over McCree's objection, prospective jurors who said they opposed the death penalty and couldn't vote to impose it; McCree was convicted but the jury ultimately chose life imprisonment rather than death. After the state court of appeals affirmed, McCree sought federal habeas relief arguing the removal of these death-penalty-opposed jurors before the guilt phase violated his right to an impartial jury, and the district court and Eighth Circuit agreed with him before the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether the Constitution prohibits removing for cause prospective jurors whose opposition to the death penalty is so strong that it would prevent or substantially impair their performance of sentencing-phase duties.