John H. McCarthy v. Bronson, George, Warden, et al.

Decided May 20, 1991. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 90-5635 · 500 U.S. 136 (1991) · Cited 373 times

Holding

Section 636(b)(1)(B) does not, as petitioner contends, permit nonconsensual referrals to a magistrate only when a prisoner challenges ongoing prison conditions, but encompasses cases alleging a specific episode of unconstitutional conduct by prison administrators.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Haines v. Kerner · 404 U.S. 519 (1972)
• Cooper v. Pate · 378 U.S. 546 (1964)
• Houghton v. Shafer · 392 U.S. 639 (1968)
• WILWORDING Et Al. v. SWENSON, WARDEN · 404 U.S. 249 (1971)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc. · 486 U.S. 281 (1988)
• Crandon v. United States · 494 U.S. 152 (1990)

Cited by

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

• Porter v. Nussle · 534 U.S. 516 (2002)
• Hudson v. McMillian · 503 U.S. 1 (1992)
• Wilson v. Seiter · 501 U.S. 294 (1991)
• Robinson v. Shell Oil Co. · 519 U.S. 337 (1997)
• Peretz v. United States · 501 U.S. 923 (1991)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Koons Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. v. Nigh · 543 U.S. 50 (2004)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). 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).