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Fikes v. Alabama, 352 U.S. 191 (1957)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Fikes v. Alabama, 352 U.S. 191 (1957)
Fikes v. Alabama No. 53 Argued December 6, 1956 Decided January 14, 1957 352 U.S. 191
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
Syllabus
In an Alabama state court, petitioner, an uneducated Negro of low mentality or mentally ill, was convicted of burglary with intent to commit rape and was sentenced to death. Two confessions admitted in evidence at his trial were obtained while he was held in a state prison far from his home, without the preliminary hearing required by Alabama law and without advice of counsel, friends or family. The first confession was obtained after five days of intermittent questioning by police officers for several hours at a time and the second five days later after more such questioning.
Held: the circumstances of pressure applied against the power of resistance of this petitioner, who was weak of will or mind, deprived him of due process of law contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment. Pp. 191-198.
263 Ala. 89, 81 So.2d 303, reversed and remanded.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Fikes v. Alabama, 352 U.S. 191 (1957) in 352 U.S. 191 Original Sources, accessed November 25, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=I9LKEUE7U7G32Z5.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Fikes v. Alabama, 352 U.S. 191 (1957), in 352 U.S. 191, Original Sources. 25 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=I9LKEUE7U7G32Z5.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Fikes v. Alabama, 352 U.S. 191 (1957). cited in 1957, 352 U.S. 191. Original Sources, retrieved 25 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=I9LKEUE7U7G32Z5.
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