Ben Chavez v. Oliverio Martinez
Decided May 27, 2003. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 01-1444 · 538 U.S. 760 (2003) · Cited 899 times
Holding
The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded.
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
Majority · 2
Plurality · 1
- Clarence Thomas · delivered the opinion of the Court
Concurring · 3
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- David Hackett Souter · filed a concurring opinion
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 3
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · filed a dissenting opinion
- John Paul Stevens · filed a dissenting opinion
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
- Mincey v. Arizona · 437 U.S. 385 (1978)
- Kastigar v. United States · 406 U.S. 441 (1972)
- County of Sacramento v. Lewis · 523 U.S. 833 (1998)
- Oregon v. Elstad · 470 U.S. 298 (1985)
- United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez · 494 U.S. 259 (1990)
- Washington v. Glucksberg · 521 U.S. 702 (1997)
- Brown v. Mississippi · 297 U.S. 278 (1936)
- Dickerson v. United States · 530 U.S. 428 (2000)
- Michigan v. Tucker · 417 U.S. 433 (1974)
- Lefkowitz v. Turley · 414 U.S. 70 (1973)
- Graham v. Connor · 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
- Rochin v. California · 342 U.S. 165 (1952)
- McKune v. Lile · 536 U.S. 24 (2002)
- Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
- Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
- Lefkowitz v. Cunningham · 431 U.S. 801 (1977)
- Uniformed Sanitation Men Ass'n v. Commissioner of Sanitation of New York · 392 U.S. 280 (1968)
- Griffin v. California · 380 U.S. 609 (1965)
- Reno v. Flores · 507 U.S. 292 (1993)
- Minnesota v. Murphy · 465 U.S. 420 (1984)
- New York v. Quarles · 467 U.S. 649 (1984)
- Gardner v. Broderick · 392 U.S. 273 (1968)
- Ashcraft v. Tennessee · 322 U.S. 143 (1944)
- Withrow v. Williams · 507 U.S. 680 (1993)
- Leyra v. Denno · 347 U.S. 556 (1954)
- McCarthy v. Arndstein · 266 U.S. 34 (1924)
- Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
- United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
- Collins v. City of Harker Heights · 503 U.S. 115 (1992)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. Patane · 542 U.S. 630 (2004)
- Vega v. Tekoh · 597 U.S. 134 (2022)
- Mayle v. Felix · 545 U.S. 644 (2005)
- Missouri v. Seibert · 542 U.S. 600 (2004)
- Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cty. · 542 U.S. 177 (2004)
- Maryland v. Shatzer · 559 U.S. 98 (2010)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2003). 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).