Criminal convictions are unconstitutional when no element of the offense has been proven. Decided March 21, 1960 (argued 1960). Opinion of the Court: Hugo Black → go there Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Other areas. Thompson v. City of Louisville, 362 U.S. 199 (1960), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court unanimously held that it is a violation of due process to convict a person of an offense when there is no evidence of his guilt. It is one of the rare instances of the Supreme Court's granting certiorari to review a decision of a court so insignificant that state law does not provide any mechanism for appeals from its judgments. Wiki link