Green v. Bock Laundry Machine Co.

Decided May 22, 1989. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1816 · 490 U.S. 504 (1989) · Cited 632 times

Holding

Rule 609(a)(1) requires a judge to permit impeachment of a civil witness with evidence of prior felony convictions regardless of ensuant unfair prejudice to the witness or the party offering the testimony.

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. 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.

• Midlantic National Bank v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection · 474 U.S. 494 (1986)
• D. Ginsberg & Sons, Inc. v. Popkin · 285 U.S. 204 (1932)
• Burnet v. Guggenheim · 288 U.S. 280 (1933)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Plasterers' Local Union No. 79 · 404 U.S. 116 (1971)

Cited by

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

• Chapman v. United States · 500 U.S. 453 (1991)
• Williamson v. United States · 512 U.S. 594 (1994)
• Carter v. United States · 530 U.S. 255 (2000)
• Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee · 525 U.S. 471 (1999)
• Tome v. United States · 513 U.S. 150 (1995)
• Rowland v. California Men's Colony, Unit II Men's Advisory Council · 506 U.S. 194 (1993)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co. · 534 U.S. 438 (2002)
• Public Citizen v. United States Department of Justice · 491 U.S. 440 (1989)
• Johnson v. United States · 529 U.S. 694 (2000)
• Burns v. United States · 501 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Chisom v. Roemer · 501 U.S. 380 (1991)
• Holloway v. United States · 526 U.S. 1 (1999)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker · 535 U.S. 125 (2002)
• United States v. Granderson · 511 U.S. 39 (1994)
• Department of Commerce v. United States House of Representatives · 525 U.S. 316 (1999)
• United States v. Salerno · 505 U.S. 317 (1992)
• Logan v. United States · 552 U.S. 23 (2007)

Official text

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

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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).