Katz v. United States

Decided December 18, 1967. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 35 · 389 U.S. 347 (1967) · Cited 13,304 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–1.

“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.

• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• Goldman v. United States · 316 U.S. 129 (1942)
• Berger v. New York · 388 U.S. 41 (1967)
• Silverman v. United States · 365 U.S. 505 (1961)
• Osborn v. United States · 385 U.S. 323 (1966)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Ker v. California · 374 U.S. 23 (1963)
• Lopez v. United States · 373 U.S. 427 (1963)
• Hester v. United States · 265 U.S. 57 (1924)
• Rios v. United States · 364 U.S. 253 (1960)
• Wong Sun v. United States · 371 U.S. 471 (1963)
• Beck v. Ohio · 379 U.S. 89 (1964)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• United States v. Rabinowitz · 339 U.S. 56 (1950)
• Agnello v. United States · 269 U.S. 20 (1925)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Jones v. United States · 362 U.S. 257 (1960)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States · 251 U.S. 385 (1920)
• Hoffa v. United States · 385 U.S. 293 (1966)
• McDonald v. United States · 335 U.S. 451 (1948)
• Cooper v. California · 386 U.S. 58 (1967)
• Stoner v. California · 376 U.S. 483 (1964)
• Wolf v. Colorado · 338 U.S. 25 (1949)
• United States v. Jeffers · 342 U.S. 48 (1951)
• Gouled v. United States · 255 U.S. 298 (1921)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)

Cited by

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

• Desist v. United States · 394 U.S. 244 (1969)
• United States v. White · 401 U.S. 745 (1971)
• Minnesota v. Carter · 525 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Carpenter v. United States · 585 U.S. 296 (2018)
• Smith v. Maryland · 442 U.S. 735 (1979)
• California v. Hodari D. · 499 U.S. 621 (1991)
• California v. Ciraolo · 476 U.S. 207 (1986)
• Oliver v. United States · 466 U.S. 170 (1984)
• Kyllo v. United States · 533 U.S. 27 (2001)
• United States v. Knotts · 460 U.S. 276 (1983)
• Florida v. Jardines · 569 U.S. 1 (2013)
• Florida v. Riley · 488 U.S. 445 (1989)
• Dow Chemical Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Administrator · 476 U.S. 227 (1986)
• Alderman v. United States · 394 U.S. 165 (1969)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Rawlings v. Kentucky · 448 U.S. 98 (1980)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• United States v. New York Telephone Co. · 434 U.S. 159 (1977)
• Maryland v. Garrison · 480 U.S. 79 (1987)
• Dalia v. United States · 441 U.S. 238 (1979)
• United States v. Donovan · 429 U.S. 413 (1977)
• Birchfield v. N. Dakota. William Robert Bernard · 579 U.S. 438 (2016)
• Illinois v. Andreas · 463 U.S. 765 (1983)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• United States v. Jacobsen · 466 U.S. 109 (1984)
• Fisher v. United States · 425 U.S. 391 (1976)
• Minnesota v. Olson · 495 U.S. 91 (1990)
• United States v. Dunn · 480 U.S. 294 (1987)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).