Donaldson, Fka Sweet v. United States et al.
Decided January 25, 1971. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 65 · 400 U.S. 517 (1971) · Cited 961 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 9–0.
Majority · 7
- Harry Andrew Blackmun · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Hugo Lafayette Black
- John Marshall Harlan
- Potter Stewart
- Thurgood Marshall
- Warren Earl Burger
Concurring · 2
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
- William Orville Douglas · filed a concurring 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.
- Reisman v. Caplin · 375 U.S. 440 (1964)
- Jenkins v. McKeithen · 395 U.S. 411 (1969)
- United States v. Powell · 379 U.S. 48 (1964)
- Hannah v. Larche · 363 U.S. 420 (1960)
- United States v. Kordel · 397 U.S. 1 (1970)
- In Re Groban · 352 U.S. 330 (1957)
- Mathis v. United States · 391 U.S. 1 (1968)
- United States v. Blue · 384 U.S. 251 (1966)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. LaSalle National Bank · 437 U.S. 298 (1978)
- Diamond v. Charles · 476 U.S. 54 (1986)
- Couch v. United States · 409 U.S. 322 (1973)
- Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jerry T. O'Brien, Inc. · 467 U.S. 735 (1984)
- United States v. Euge · 444 U.S. 707 (1980)
- Polselli v. IRS · 598 U.S. 432 (2023)
- Upjohn Co. v. United States · 449 U.S. 383 (1981)
- Church of Scientology of California v. United States · 506 U.S. 9 (1992)
- United States v. Miller · 425 U.S. 435 (1976)
- California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
- United States v. Bisceglia · 420 U.S. 141 (1975)
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).