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Supreme Court · Decisions

McKaskle, Acting Director, Texas Department of Corrections v. Wiggins

465 U.S. 168 · No. 82-1135 · 1983 term · Burger Court

Decided Jan 23, 1984 · argued Nov 9, 1983

Criminal procedure · Right to counsel

Majority opinion: Sandra O'Connor

The voteMajorityDissent

6–36 in the majority, 3 in dissent

3 dissents (6–3)

Reversed. McKaskle, Acting Director, Texas Department of Corrections won.

What this ruling means

Reversed: the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and its own ruling ends the case.

McKaskle, Acting Director, Texas Department of Corrections was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Won” means the Court gave that side the result it asked for.

From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.

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Summary

The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.

McKaskle v. Wiggins, 465 U.S. 168 (1984), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the court considered the role of standby counsel in a criminal trial where the defendant conducted his own defense (pro se). In this case the defendant claimed his Sixth Amendment right to present his own case in a criminal trial was violated by the presence of a court-appointed standby counsel.

Read the full article on Wikipedia

Data notes

The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.

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How the justices voted

Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 1983 term. Filled: the 6 in the majority. Hollow: the 3 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.

More liberalMore conservativeMedianMarshallBrennanStevensBlackmunWhitePowellO'ConnorBurgerRehnquist

Majority(6)

Dissent(3)

Data notes

Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.

Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.

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The parties

Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.

Petitioner
McKaskle, Acting Director, Texas Department of CorrectionsState (Texas)
Respondent
WigginsPerson accused, indicted, or suspected of crime
Reached the Court by
Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
Data notes

The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.

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The law at issue

The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.

Provision
Sixth Amendment (right to counsel)
Kind of law
Constitutional Amendment
Decided by
Judicial review (state level)
Data notes

The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.

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Timeline

What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.

  1. Jan 23, 1984DecidedDecided · Decided 6–3: reversed. McKaskle, Acting Director, Texas Department of Corrections won.
  2. Nov 9, 1983ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
  3. Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari).
  4. Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit: reversed.
  5. Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the Texas Western U.S. District Court.
Data notes

From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.

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Other decisions on the same issue

93 other argued cases since 1946 on right to counsel, newest first.

  1. Villarreal v. Texas607 U.S. 465Feb 25, 2026 · 607 U.S. 465Criminal procedure9–0Unanimous band

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  15. Florida v. Joe Elton Nixon543 U.S. 175Dec 13, 2004 · 543 U.S. 175Criminal procedure8–0Unanimous band

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  17. John J. Fellers v. United States540 U.S. 519Jan 26, 2004 · 540 U.S. 519Criminal procedure9–0Unanimous band
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  19. Alabama v. Lereed Shelton535 U.S. 654May 20, 2002 · 535 U.S. 654Criminal procedure5–45–4 band

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  24. Salvador Martinez v. Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District528 U.S. 152Jan 12, 2000 · 528 U.S. 152Criminal procedure9–0Unanimous band

  25. Kenneth O. Nichols v. United States511 U.S. 738Jun 6, 1994 · 511 U.S. 738Criminal procedure6–36–3 band

  26. A. L. Lockhart, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction v. Bobby Ray Fretwell506 U.S. 364Jan 25, 1993 · 506 U.S. 364Criminal procedure7–27–2 band

  27. Paul McNeil v. Wisconsin501 U.S. 171Jun 13, 1991 · 501 U.S. 171Criminal procedure6–36–3 band

  28. Michigan v. Tyris Lemont Harvey494 U.S. 344Mar 5, 1990 · 494 U.S. 344Criminal procedure5–45–4 band
  29. Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered v. United States491 U.S. 617Jun 22, 1989 · 491 U.S. 617Criminal procedure5–45–4 band
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Data notes

Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.

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Official record

Read the full opinion on Justia, the argument audio on Oyez and Wikipedia. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.