J. D. B., Petitioner v. North Carolina
Decided June 16, 2011. Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 09-11121 · 564 U.S. 261 (2011) · Cited 187 times
Holding
A child’s age properly informs Miranda’s custody analysis.
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 5–4.
Majority · 5
- Sonia Sotomayor · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Elena Kagan
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 4
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Samuel A. Alito Jr. · filed a dissenting 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.
- Spencer v. Kemna · 523 U.S. 1 (1998)
- Sibron v. New York · 392 U.S. 40 (1968)
- Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona · 520 U.S. 43 (1997)
- Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp. · 494 U.S. 472 (1990)
- Weinstein v. Bradford · 423 U.S. 147 (1975)
- DeFunis v. Odegaard · 416 U.S. 312 (1974)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center · 568 U.S. 597 (2013)
- Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Sonia Sotomayor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2011). 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).