| Litigants: | South Carolina v. Gathers |
| Arguedate: | March 28 |
| Argueyear: | 1989 |
| Decidedate: | June 12 |
| Decideyear: | 1989 |
| Fullname: | Demitrius Gathers v. Tennessee |
| Usvol: | 490 |
| Uspage: | 805 |
| Parallelcitations: | 109 S. Ct. 2207; 104 L. Ed. 2d 876; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 2817 |
| Prior: | State v. Gathers, 295 S.C. 476, 369 S.E.2d 140 (1988); cert. granted, . |
| Subsequent: | Rehearing denied, . |
| Holding: | Victim impact evidence is relevant at the sentencing stage and thus admissible only if it directly relates to the circumstances of the crime. The content of religious cards possessed by the victim cannot equate to such relevance and contributes nothing to the defendant's blameworthiness. |
| Majority: | Brennan |
| Joinmajority: | White, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens |
| Concurrence: | White |
| Dissent: | O'Connor |
| Joindissent: | Rehnquist, Kennedy |
| Dissent2: | Scalia |
South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case which held that testimony in the form of a victim impact statement is admissible during the sentencing phase of a trial only if it directly relates to the "circumstances of the crime."[1] This case was later overruled by the Supreme Court decision in Payne v. Tennessee.[2]
In a majority opinion by Justice Brennan, the Court held that Booth v. Maryland (1987) left open the possibility that the kind of information contained in victim impact statements could be admissible if it "relate[d] directly to the circumstances of the crime." Though South Carolina asserted that such was the case, the Court disagreed, and held that the content of the cards at issue was irrelevant to the "circumstances of the crime."
Justice O'Connor authored a dissenting opinion, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Kennedy. Justice Scalia also dissented and expressly argued that Booth v. Maryland should be overruled.
The impact[3] of the case was somewhat short-lived, as two years later, the Rehnquist Court decided Payne, which has had a significant impact in victim's rights,[4] criminology, and the lives of the parties involved.