Braswell v. United States
Decided June 22, 1988. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 87-3 · 487 U.S. 99 (1988) · Cited 345 times
Holding
The custodian of corporate records may not resist a subpoena for such records on the ground that the act of production will incriminate him in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
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 5–4.
Majority · 5
- William Hubbs Rehnquist · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor
Dissenting · 4
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · filed a dissenting opinion
- Antonin Scalia
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
“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.
- Fisher v. United States · 425 U.S. 391 (1976)
- Curcio v. United States · 354 U.S. 118 (1957)
- United States v. Doe · 465 U.S. 605 (1984)
- Bellis v. United States · 417 U.S. 85 (1974)
- United States v. White · 322 U.S. 694 (1944)
- Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
- Wilson v. United States · 221 U.S. 361 (1911)
- Kastigar v. United States · 406 U.S. 441 (1972)
- Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission · 475 U.S. 1 (1986)
- Essgee Co. of China v. United States · 262 U.S. 151 (1923)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Baltimore City Department of Social Services v. Bouknight · 493 U.S. 549 (1990)
- Pennsylvania v. Muniz · 496 U.S. 582 (1990)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). 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).