Liparota v. United States

Decided May 13, 1985. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-5108 · 471 U.S. 419 (1985) · Cited 890 times

Holding

Absent any indication of a contrary purpose in the statute's language or legislative history, the Government in a prosecution for violation of 2024(b)(1) must prove that the defendant knew that his acquisition or possession of food stamps was in a manner unauthorized by statute or regulations.

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 6–2.

“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. Yermian · 468 U.S. 63 (1984)
• United States v. Freed · 401 U.S. 601 (1971)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• United States v. International Minerals & Chemical Corp. · 402 U.S. 558 (1971)
• United States v. United States Gypsum Co. · 438 U.S. 422 (1978)
• United States v. Dotterweich · 320 U.S. 277 (1943)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• United States v. Bass · 404 U.S. 336 (1971)
• United States v. Bailey · 444 U.S. 394 (1980)
• Boyce Motor Lines, Inc. v. United States · 342 U.S. 337 (1952)
• United States v. Balint · 258 U.S. 250 (1922)
• United States v. Turkette · 452 U.S. 576 (1981)
• Bell v. United States · 349 U.S. 81 (1955)
• The United States v. Hudson and Goodwin · 11 U.S. 32 (1812)
• Rewis v. United States · 401 U.S. 808 (1971)
• United States v. Universal C. I. T. Credit Corp. · 344 U.S. 218 (1952)
• Rosen v. United States · 161 U.S. 29 (1896)

Cited by

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

• Staples v. United States · 511 U.S. 600 (1994)
• Rehaif v. United States · 588 U.S. 225 (2019)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• Xiulu Ruan v. United States · 597 U.S. 450 (2022)
• Ratzlaf v. United States · 510 U.S. 135 (1994)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Flores-Figueroa v. United States · 556 U.S. 646 (2009)
• McFadden v. United States · 576 U.S. 186 (2015)
• Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich, L.P.A. · 559 U.S. 573 (2010)
• Dixon v. United States · 548 U.S. 1 (2006)
• Dowling v. United States · 473 U.S. 207 (1985)
• United States v. RLC · 503 U.S. 291 (1992)
• Wooden v. United States · 595 U.S. 360 (2022)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• United States v. Gaudin · 515 U.S. 506 (1995)
• Jones v. United States · 526 U.S. 227 (1999)
• United States v. Lanier · 520 U.S. 259 (1997)
• Cheek v. United States · 498 U.S. 192 (1991)
• Crandon v. United States · 494 U.S. 152 (1990)
• Bryan v. United States · 524 U.S. 184 (1998)
• Carter v. United States · 530 U.S. 255 (2000)
• United States v. LaBonte · 520 U.S. 751 (1997)
• United States v. Kozminski · 487 U.S. 931 (1988)
• Erlinger v. United States · 602 U.S. 821 (2024)
• Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States · 544 U.S. 696 (2005)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).