Greenlaw v. United States

Decided June 23, 2008. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-330 · 554 U.S. 237 (2008) · Cited 1,032 times

Holding

Absent a Government appeal or cross-appeal, the Eighth Circuit could not, on its own initiative, order an increase in Greenlaw’s sentence.

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.

• El Paso Natural Gas Co. v. Neztsosie · 526 U.S. 473 (1999)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Morley Construction Co. v. Maryland Casualty Co. · 300 U.S. 185 (1937)
• Strunk v. United States · 412 U.S. 434 (1973)
• United States v. Olano · 507 U.S. 725 (1993)
• Castro v. United States · 540 U.S. 375 (2003)
• United States National Bank v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, Inc. · 508 U.S. 439 (1993)
• Deal v. United States · 508 U.S. 129 (1993)
• Universal Camera Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 340 U.S. 474 (1951)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Riverside Cty. · 464 U.S. 501 (1984)
• Alabama v. Smith · 490 U.S. 794 (1989)
• United States v. Atkinson · 297 U.S. 157 (1936)
• Kontrick v. Ryan · 540 U.S. 443 (2004)
• Ankenbrandt Ex Rel. L. R. v. Richards · 504 U.S. 689 (1992)
• Granberry v. Greer · 481 U.S. 129 (1987)
• Astoria Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Solimino · 501 U.S. 104 (1991)
• Chaffin v. Stynchcombe · 412 U.S. 17 (1973)
• Eberhart v. United States · 546 U.S. 12 (2005)
• Langnes v. Green · 282 U.S. 531 (1931)
• United States & Interstate Commerce Commission v. American Railway Express Co. · 265 U.S. 425 (1924)
• Wasman v. United States · 468 U.S. 559 (1984)
• Unitherm Food Systems, Inc. v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc. · 546 U.S. 394 (2006)
• Swift & Co. v. Hocking Valley Railway Co. · 243 U.S. 281 (1917)
• Silber v. United States · 370 U.S. 717 (1962)
• New York Central Railroad v. Johnson · 279 U.S. 310 (1929)
• United States v. International Business MacHines Corp. · 517 U.S. 843 (1996)
• Rita v. United States · 551 U.S. 338 (2007)
• Bowles v. Russell · 551 U.S. 205 (2007)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Sineneng-Smith · 590 U.S. 371 (2020)
• Dean v. United States · 581 U.S. 62 (2017)
• Manrique v. United States · 581 U.S. 116 (2017)
• Wood v. Milyard · 566 U.S. 463 (2012)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Hewitt v. United States · 606 U.S. 419 (2025)
• Jones v. Hendrix · 599 U.S. 465 (2023)
• Abbott v. United States · 562 U.S. 8 (2010)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. United States · 556 U.S. 599 (2009)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2008). 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).