Charles Andrew Fowler, Aka Man, Petitioner v. United States
Decided May 26, 2011. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 10-5443 · 563 U.S. 668 (2011) · Cited 112 times
Holding
In such circumstances, the Government must establish a § 1512(a) (1)(C) violation by showing there was a reasonable likelihood that a relevant communication would have been made to a federal officer.
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.
Majority · 6
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Clarence Thomas
- Elena Kagan
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
Concurring · 1
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 2
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Samuel A. Alito Jr. · 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.
- Jones v. United States · 529 U.S. 848 (2000)
- Duncan v. Walker · 533 U.S. 167 (2001)
- United States v. Powell · 469 U.S. 57 (1984)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- Ratzlaf v. United States · 510 U.S. 135 (1994)
- Burgess v. United States · 553 U.S. 124 (2008)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- West Virginia v. EPA · 597 U.S. 697 (2022)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2011). 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).