Bob Reves, et al. v. Ernst & Young

Decided March 3, 1993. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-886 · 507 U.S. 170 (1993) · Cited 1,166 times

Holding

One must participate in the operation or management of the enterprise itself in order to be subject to § 1962(c) liability.

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.

• Sedima, S. P. R. L. v. Imrex Co. · 473 U.S. 479 (1985)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• United States v. Turkette · 452 U.S. 576 (1981)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Sanabria v. United States · 437 U.S. 54 (1978)
• Callanan v. United States · 364 U.S. 587 (1961)
• Reves v. Ernst & Young · 494 U.S. 56 (1990)
• Sorenson v. Secretary of the Treasury · 475 U.S. 851 (1986)

Cited by

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

• Boyle v. United States · 556 U.S. 938 (2009)
• Rosemond v. United States · 572 U.S. 65 (2014)
• Cedric Kushner Promotions, Ltd. v. King · 533 U.S. 158 (2001)
• United States v. Granderson · 511 U.S. 39 (1994)
• National Organization for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler · 510 U.S. 249 (1994)
• Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter, Communities for Great Ore. · 515 U.S. 687 (1995)
• Negusie v. Holder · 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• United States v. Hansen · 599 U.S. 762 (2023)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). 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).