Juan Melendez v. United States
Decided June 17, 1996. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 95-5661 · 518 U.S. 120 (1996) · Cited 220 times
Holding
A Government motion attesting to the defendant’s substantial assistance in a criminal investigation and requesting that the district court depart below the minimum of the applicable Guideline sentencing range does not also authorize the court to depart below a lower statutory minimum 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 7–2.
Majority · 5
- Clarence Thomas · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 2
- David Hackett Souter · filed a concurring opinion
- John Paul Stevens · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 2
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · 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.
- Wade v. United States · 504 U.S. 181 (1992)
- Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Harris v. United States · 536 U.S. 545 (2002)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). 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).