Eddie Richardson v. United States
Decided June 1, 1999. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 97-8629 · 526 U.S. 813 (1999) · Cited 913 times
Holding
A jury in a § 848 case must unanimously agree not only that the defendant committed some “continuing series of violations,” but also about which specific “violations” make up that “continuing series.”
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 6–3.
Majority · 6
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter
- John Paul Stevens
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 3
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · filed a dissenting opinion
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Sandra Day O'Connor
“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.
- Schad v. Arizona · 501 U.S. 624 (1991)
- Garrett v. United States · 471 U.S. 773 (1985)
- Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
- Johnson v. Louisiana · 406 U.S. 356 (1972)
- Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
- Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
- McKoy v. North Carolina · 494 U.S. 433 (1990)
- Gomez v. United States · 490 U.S. 858 (1989)
- United States v. Wells · 519 U.S. 482 (1997)
- Andres v. United States · 333 U.S. 740 (1948)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Dodd v. United States · 545 U.S. 353 (2005)
- Mathis v. United States · 579 U.S. 500 (2016)
- Descamps v. United States · 570 U.S. 254 (2013)
- United States v. Santos · 553 U.S. 507 (2008)
- Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
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 (1999). 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).