Fischer v. United States

Decided June 28, 2024. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 23-5572 · 603 U.S. 480 (2024) · Cited 55 times

Holding

To prove a violation of 18 U. S. C. §1512(c)(2)—a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act—the Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or other things used in an official proceeding, or attempted to do so.

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.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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.

• United States v. Aguilar · 515 U.S. 593 (1995)
• Williams v. Taylor · 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
• Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons · 552 U.S. 214 (2008)
• Marinello v. United States · 584 U.S. 1 (2018)
• Johnson v. United States · 576 U.S. 591 (2015)
• Begay v. United States · 553 U.S. 137 (2008)
• Republic of Iraq v. Beaty · 556 U.S. 848 (2009)
• Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. · 523 U.S. 75 (1998)
• Robinson v. Shell Oil Co. · 519 U.S. 337 (1997)
• United States v. American Trucking Associations · 310 U.S. 534 (1940)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams · 532 U.S. 105 (2001)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• United States v. Menasche · 348 U.S. 528 (1955)
• Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States · 544 U.S. 696 (2005)
• Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon · 596 U.S. 450 (2022)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• United States v. Wiltberger · 18 U.S. 76 (1820)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co. · 367 U.S. 303 (1961)
• Washington State Department of Social & Health Services v. Guardianship Estate of Keffeler · 537 U.S. 371 (2003)
• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• Viereck v. United States · 318 U.S. 236 (1943)
• Finnegan v. Leu · 456 U.S. 431 (1982)
• Bates v. United States · 522 U.S. 23 (1997)
• United States v. Rodgers · 466 U.S. 475 (1984)
• Pasquantino v. United States · 544 U.S. 349 (2005)
• Dean v. United States · 556 U.S. 568 (2009)
• Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n Local Union No. 6 · 493 U.S. 67 (1989)

Cited by

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

• BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman · 605 U.S. 204 (2025)
• Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. · 604 U.S. 305 (2025)
• McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates, Inc. v. McKesson Corp. · 606 U.S. 146 (2025)
• Feliciano v. Department Of Transportation · 605 U.S. 38 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2024). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).