James Brogan v. United States

Decided January 26, 1998. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 96-1579 · 522 U.S. 398 (1998) · Cited 254 times

Holding

There is no exception to § 1001 criminal liability for a false statement consisting merely of an “exculpatory no.”

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 7–2.

“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.

• United States v. Gilliland · 312 U.S. 86 (1941)
• Hubbard v. United States · 514 U.S. 695 (1995)
• McNally v. United States · 483 U.S. 350 (1987)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Sorrells v. United States · 287 U.S. 435 (1932)
• Murphy v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor · 378 U.S. 52 (1964)
• Staples v. United States · 511 U.S. 600 (1994)
• Williams v. United States · 458 U.S. 279 (1982)
• United States v. Yermian · 468 U.S. 63 (1984)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Behrens v. Pelletier · 516 U.S. 299 (1996)
• Central Bank of Denver, N. A. v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, N. A. · 511 U.S. 164 (1994)
• Sherman v. United States · 356 U.S. 369 (1958)
• Chapman v. United States · 500 U.S. 453 (1991)
• United States v. Gonzales · 520 U.S. 1 (1997)
• United States v. Apfelbaum · 445 U.S. 115 (1980)
• Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. American Train Dispatchers' Ass'n · 499 U.S. 117 (1991)
• Bryson v. United States · 396 U.S. 64 (1969)
• United States v. Rodgers · 466 U.S. 475 (1984)
• United States v. Knox · 396 U.S. 77 (1969)
• United States v. Wong · 431 U.S. 174 (1977)

Cited by

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

• Salinas v. Texas · 570 U.S. 178 (2013)
• Bousley v. United States · 523 U.S. 614 (1998)
• Pasquantino v. United States · 544 U.S. 349 (2005)
• Small v. United States · 544 U.S. 385 (2005)
• Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC · 601 U.S. 23 (2024)
• Thompson v. United States · 604 U.S. 408 (2025)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1998). 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).