Home > Great American Court Cases > Bell v. Wolfish

Legal Citation: 441 U.S. 520 (1979)

Petitioner
Griffin B. Bell

Respondent
Louis Wolfish

Petitioner's Claim
Regulations imposed on pretrial confinees by the New York City Metropolitan Correctional Center did not impinge upon pretrial detainees' constitutional rights (who, as temporary inmates awaiting trial, had the constitutional right to be regarded as detainees who were presumed innocent).

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner
Andrew L. Frey

Chief Lawyer for Respondent
Phylis Skloot Bamberger

Justices for the Court
Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting
William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
14 May...