This case concerns a death penalty verdict for Lloyd Earl Jackson, and is significant for being the first time a death sentence was affrimed by justices since 1967, and the death penalty's reinstatement in California in 1977. The ACLU represented Jackson, who was described by the press as a "impoverished, illiterate...black youth." He was appealing his death sentence following a conviction of two counts of first degree murder and two counts of burglery committed in Long Beach in 1977. He also sought a writ of habeas corpus, based on his belief that he was ineffectively represented by his trial counsel (a court-appointed public defender).

Jackson was convicted of the robbery and murder of two elderly women, and the sexual assault of one of those women. In an extended argument which considered numerous factors, such as the adequacy of trial counsel and the admissability of certain evidence such as photos of the victims and statements made by the Jackson to the police, in addition to, significantly, also considering the constitutionality of the 1977 Death Penalty Legislation, the court decided to uphold the death penalty verdict. They wrote, "Defendant received a fair trial."

It is also worth noting that, since his 1977 death sentence, a federal appeals court ordered a retrial in 2008, the result of which was Jackson being resentenced to death in 2010. In October of 2015, the California Supreme Court appointed counsel to represent Jackson on direct appeal.