Home > Great American Court Cases > Chambers v. Florida

Legal Citation: 309 U.S. 227 (1940)

Petitioners
Isiah (Izell) Chambers, Jack Williamson, Charlie Davis, Walter Woodward (Woodard)

Respondent
State of Florida

Petitioners' Claim
Four black men sentenced to death for the murder of a white man claimed their convictions were obtained "solely upon confessions and pleas of guilt extorted by violence and torture" in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Chief Lawyers for Petitioners
Leon A. Ransom, S. D. McGill, Thurgood Marshall

Chief Lawyers for Respondent
Tyrus A. Norwood

Justices for the Court
Hugo Lafayette Black (writing for the Court), Pierce Butler, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter, Charles Evans Hughes, James Clark McReynolds, Stanley Forman Reed, Owen Josephus Roberts, Harlan Fiske Stone

Justices Dissenting
None (Frank Murphy did not...