Kestutis Zadvydas v. Christine G. Davis and Immigration and Naturalization Service

Decided June 28, 2001. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-7791 · 533 U.S. 678 (2001) · Cited 3,847 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 5–4.

“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.

• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• United States v. Witkovich · 353 U.S. 194 (1957)
• Shaughnessy v. United States Ex Rel. Mezei · 345 U.S. 206 (1953)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• Foucha v. Louisiana · 504 U.S. 71 (1992)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Aguirre-Aguirre · 526 U.S. 415 (1999)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Board of Pardons v. Allen · 482 U.S. 369 (1987)
• Wong Wing v. United States · 163 U.S. 228 (1896)
• Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
• County of Riverside v. McLaughlin · 500 U.S. 44 (1991)
• Jackson v. Indiana · 406 U.S. 715 (1972)
• Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding · 344 U.S. 590 (1953)
• Landon v. Plasencia · 459 U.S. 21 (1982)
• Johnson v. Eisentrager · 339 U.S. 763 (1950)
• Cheff v. Schnackenberg · 384 U.S. 373 (1966)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Superintendent, Mass. Correctional Institution at Walpole v. Hill · 472 U.S. 445 (1985)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
• Reno v. Flores · 507 U.S. 292 (1993)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• Demore v. Kim · 538 U.S. 510 (2003)
• Mathews v. Diaz · 426 U.S. 67 (1976)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Salinas v. United States · 522 U.S. 52 (1997)
• Phillips v. Commissioner · 283 U.S. 589 (1931)

Cited by

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

• Clark v. Martinez · 543 U.S. 371 (2005)
• Demore v. Kim · 538 U.S. 510 (2003)
• Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez · 596 U.S. 573 (2022)
• Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. · 545 U.S. 119 (2005)
• Nielsen v. Preap · 586 U.S. 392 (2019)
• Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam · 591 U.S. 103 (2020)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
• Kerry v. Din · 576 U.S. 86 (2015)
• Johnson v. Guzman Chavez · 594 U.S. 523 (2021)
• Negusie v. Holder · 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• Cherokee Nation of Okla. v. Leavitt · 543 U.S. 631 (2005)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• Kucana v. Holder · 558 U.S. 233 (2010)
• Jama v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement · 543 U.S. 335 (2005)
• Jones v. Hendrix · 599 U.S. 465 (2023)
• Perttu v. Richards · 605 U.S. 460 (2025)
• Department of State v. Munoz · 602 U.S. 899 (2024)
• Riley v. Bondi · 606 U.S. 259 (2025)

Official text

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

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).