Payne V. Tennessee

Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991) was a United States Supreme Court decision which held that testimony on the form of a victim impact statement is admissible during the sentencing phase of a trial and, in death penalty cases, does not violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. Payne overruled two of the Courts' precedents: Booth v. Maryland and South Carolina v. Gathers.