Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics

Decided June 21, 1971. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 301 · 403 U.S. 388 (1971) · Cited 18,230 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“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.

• J. I. Case Co. v. Borak · 377 U.S. 426 (1964)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)
• United States v. Standard Oil Co. Of California · 332 U.S. 301 (1947)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills of Ala. · 353 U.S. 448 (1957)
• Gambino v. United States · 275 U.S. 310 (1928)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Guaranty Trust Co. v. York · 326 U.S. 99 (1945)
• Irvine v. California · 347 U.S. 128 (1954)
• Wolf v. Colorado · 338 U.S. 25 (1949)
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht · 327 U.S. 392 (1946)
• Sprague v. Ticonic National Bank · 307 U.S. 161 (1939)
• Byars v. United States · 273 U.S. 28 (1927)
• Wheeldin v. Wheeler · 373 U.S. 647 (1963)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• United States v. Wade · 388 U.S. 218 (1967)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Marron v. United States · 275 U.S. 192 (1927)
• Silverman v. United States · 365 U.S. 505 (1961)
• Barr v. Matteo · 360 U.S. 564 (1959)
• Burdeau v. McDowell · 256 U.S. 465 (1921)
• Hester v. United States · 265 U.S. 57 (1924)
• Berger v. New York · 388 U.S. 41 (1967)
• Clearfield Trust Co. v. United States · 318 U.S. 363 (1943)

Cited by

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

• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko · 534 U.S. 61 (2001)
• United States v. Stanley · 483 U.S. 669 (1987)
• Wilkie v. Robbins · 551 U.S. 537 (2007)
• Schweiker v. Chilicky · 487 U.S. 412 (1988)
• Hui v. Castaneda · 559 U.S. 799 (2010)
• Federal Deposit Insurance v. Meyer · 510 U.S. 471 (1994)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Bush v. Lucas · 462 U.S. 367 (1983)
• Davis v. Passman · 442 U.S. 228 (1979)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Hernández v. Mesa · 589 U.S. 93 (2020)
• McCarthy v. Madigan · 503 U.S. 140 (1992)
• Hernandez v. Mesa · 582 U.S. 548 (2017)
• Hartman v. Moore · 547 U.S. 250 (2006)
• Egbert v. Boule · 596 U.S. 482 (2022)
• Christopher v. Harbury · 536 U.S. 403 (2002)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Idaho v. Coeur D'Alene Tribe of Idaho · 521 U.S. 261 (1997)
• Siegert v. Gilley · 500 U.S. 226 (1991)
• Chappell v. Wallace · 462 U.S. 296 (1983)
• Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain · 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
• Behrens v. Pelletier · 516 U.S. 299 (1996)
• Will v. Hallock · 546 U.S. 345 (2006)
• Wood v. Moss · 572 U.S. 744 (2014)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
• Wilson v. Layne · 526 U.S. 603 (1999)
• Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency · 440 U.S. 391 (1979)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).