Baltimore City Department of Social Services v. Bouknight

Decided February 20, 1990. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-1182 · 493 U.S. 549 (1990) · Cited 154 times

Holding

A mother who is the custodian of her child pursuant to a court order may not invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to resist a subsequent court order to produce the child.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Shapiro v. United States · 335 U.S. 1 (1948)
• California v. Byers · 402 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Marchetti v. United States · 390 U.S. 39 (1968)
• Fisher v. United States · 425 U.S. 391 (1976)
• United States v. Doe · 465 U.S. 605 (1984)
• Haynes v. United States · 390 U.S. 85 (1968)
• Albertson v. Subversive Activities Control Board · 382 U.S. 70 (1965)
• Grosso v. United States · 390 U.S. 62 (1968)
• United States v. White · 322 U.S. 694 (1944)
• Wilson v. United States · 221 U.S. 361 (1911)
• Braswell v. United States · 487 U.S. 99 (1988)
• Simmons v. United States · 390 U.S. 377 (1968)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Hoffman v. United States · 341 U.S. 479 (1951)
• Leary v. United States · 395 U.S. 6 (1969)
• Garrity v. New Jersey · 385 U.S. 493 (1967)
• Murphy v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor · 378 U.S. 52 (1964)
• Maness v. Meyers · 419 U.S. 449 (1975)
• United States v. Sullivan · 274 U.S. 259 (1927)
• Davis v. United States · 328 U.S. 582 (1946)
• Doe v. United States · 487 U.S. 201 (1988)
• New Jersey v. Portash · 440 U.S. 450 (1979)
• Curcio v. United States · 354 U.S. 118 (1957)
• Pillsbury Co. v. Conboy · 459 U.S. 248 (1983)
• Adams v. Maryland · 347 U.S. 179 (1954)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Pennsylvania v. Muniz · 496 U.S. 582 (1990)
• Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cty. · 542 U.S. 177 (2004)
• United States v. Patane · 542 U.S. 630 (2004)
• United States v. Hubbell · 530 U.S. 27 (2000)
• Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health · 497 U.S. 502 (1990)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1990). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).