McDonald et al. v. United States

Decided December 13, 1948. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 36 · 335 U.S. 451 (1948) · Cited 1,736 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 6–3.

“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.

• Johnson v. United States · 333 U.S. 10 (1948)
• Agnello v. United States · 269 U.S. 20 (1925)
• Go-Bart Importing Co. v. United States · 282 U.S. 344 (1931)
• Trupiano v. United States · 334 U.S. 699 (1948)
• Taylor v. United States · 286 U.S. 1 (1932)
• Harris v. United States · 331 U.S. 145 (1947)
• United States v. Lefkowitz · 285 U.S. 452 (1932)
• Malinski v. New York · 324 U.S. 401 (1945)
• Nathanson v. United States · 290 U.S. 41 (1933)
• Gambino v. United States · 275 U.S. 310 (1928)

Cited by

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

• Groh v. Ramirez · 540 U.S. 551 (2004)
• Chimel v. California · 395 U.S. 752 (1969)
• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• Welsh v. Wisconsin · 466 U.S. 740 (1984)
• Lopez v. United States · 373 U.S. 427 (1963)
• Lange v. California · 594 U.S. 295 (2021)
• Coolidge v. New Hampshire · 403 U.S. 443 (1971)
• United States v. Matlock · 415 U.S. 164 (1974)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Illinois v. Rodriguez · 497 U.S. 177 (1990)
• Alderman v. United States · 394 U.S. 165 (1969)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• Mincey v. Arizona · 437 U.S. 385 (1978)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• New York v. Belton · 453 U.S. 454 (1981)
• United States v. Martinez-Fuerte · 428 U.S. 543 (1976)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• Segura v. United States · 468 U.S. 796 (1984)
• Missouri v. McNeely · 569 U.S. 141 (2013)
• Hudson v. Michigan · 547 U.S. 586 (2006)
• United States v. White · 401 U.S. 745 (1971)
• Vale v. Louisiana · 399 U.S. 30 (1970)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• Chambers v. Maroney · 399 U.S. 42 (1970)
• United States v. Robinson · 414 U.S. 218 (1973)
• South Dakota v. Opperman · 428 U.S. 364 (1976)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Orville Douglas’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).