Doe v. United States

Decided June 22, 1988. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-1753 · 487 U.S. 201 (1988) · Cited 420 times

Holding

Because the consent directive here is not testimonial in nature, compelling petitioner to sign it does not violate his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

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 8–1.

“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)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• United States v. Wade · 388 U.S. 218 (1967)
• United States v. Doe · 465 U.S. 605 (1984)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Gilbert v. California · 388 U.S. 263 (1967)
• Kastigar v. United States · 406 U.S. 441 (1972)
• Murphy v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor · 378 U.S. 52 (1964)
• United States v. Dionisio · 410 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Couch v. United States · 409 U.S. 322 (1973)
• Schneckloth v. Bustamonte · 412 U.S. 218 (1973)
• Brady v. United States · 397 U.S. 742 (1970)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Rochin v. California · 342 U.S. 165 (1952)
• Upjohn Co. v. United States · 449 U.S. 383 (1981)
• Estelle v. Smith · 451 U.S. 454 (1981)
• Hoffman v. United States · 341 U.S. 479 (1951)
• Culombe v. Connecticut · 367 U.S. 568 (1961)
• Andresen v. Maryland · 427 U.S. 463 (1976)
• Grosso v. United States · 390 U.S. 62 (1968)
• United States v. New York Telephone Co. · 434 U.S. 159 (1977)
• Ullmann v. United States · 350 U.S. 422 (1956)
• Bellis v. United States · 417 U.S. 85 (1974)
• Curcio v. United States · 354 U.S. 118 (1957)

Cited by

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

• Pennsylvania v. Muniz · 496 U.S. 582 (1990)
• Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cty. · 542 U.S. 177 (2004)
• United States v. Hubbell · 530 U.S. 27 (2000)
• United States v. Balsys · 524 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel · 524 U.S. 498 (1998)
• Baltimore City Department of Social Services v. Bouknight · 493 U.S. 549 (1990)
• Smith v. Arizona · 602 U.S. 779 (2024)

Official text

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

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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).