Mistretta v. United States

Decided January 18, 1989. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-7028 · 488 U.S. 361 (1989) · Cited 2,457 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 8–1.

“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.

• Morrison v. Olson · 487 U.S. 654 (1988)
• United States v. Ferreira · 54 U.S. 40 (1852)
• Bowsher v. Synar · 478 U.S. 714 (1986)
• Yakus v. United States · 321 U.S. 414 (1944)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor · 478 U.S. 833 (1986)
• J. W. Hampton, Jr., & Co. v. United States · 276 U.S. 394 (1928)
• Humphrey's v. United States · 295 U.S. 602 (1935)
• Chandler v. Judicial Council of the Tenth Circuit · 398 U.S. 74 (1970)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co. · 458 U.S. 50 (1982)
• Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer · 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
• United States v. Addonizio · 442 U.S. 178 (1979)
• Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan · 293 U.S. 388 (1935)
• National Broadcasting Co. v. United States · 319 U.S. 190 (1943)
• Sibbach v. Wilson & Co. · 312 U.S. 1 (1941)
• American Power & Light Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 329 U.S. 90 (1946)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Hanna v. Plumer · 380 U.S. 460 (1965)
• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty · 445 U.S. 388 (1980)
• A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States · 295 U.S. 495 (1935)
• Young v. United States Ex Rel. Vuitton Et Fils S. A. · 481 U.S. 787 (1987)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• United States v. Raddatz · 447 U.S. 667 (1980)
• Williams v. New York · 337 U.S. 241 (1949)
• Federal Power Commission v. Hope Natural Gas Co. · 320 U.S. 591 (1944)
• Miller v. Florida · 482 U.S. 423 (1987)
• Myers v. United States · 272 U.S. 52 (1926)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Dillon v. United States · 560 U.S. 817 (2010)
• Beckles v. United States · 580 U.S. 256 (2017)
• Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads · 575 U.S. 43 (2015)
• Tapia v. United States · 564 U.S. 319 (2011)
• Blakely v. Washington · 542 U.S. 296 (2004)
• United States v. LaBonte · 520 U.S. 751 (1997)
• Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority v. Citizens for the Abatement of Aircraft Noise, Inc. · 501 U.S. 252 (1991)
• Clinton v. Jones · 520 U.S. 681 (1997)
• Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. · 514 U.S. 211 (1995)
• Peugh v. United States · 569 U.S. 530 (2013)
• Barber v. Thomas · 560 U.S. 474 (2010)
• FCC v. Consumers' Research · 606 U.S. 656 (2025)
• Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
• Setser v. United States · 566 U.S. 231 (2012)
• Touby v. United States · 500 U.S. 160 (1991)
• Rita v. United States · 551 U.S. 338 (2007)
• Miller v. Alabama · 567 U.S. 460 (2012)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 556 U.S. 502 (2009)
• Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Assn. · 575 U.S. 92 (2015)
• Gundy v. United States · 588 U.S. 128 (2019)
• Luna Torres v. Lynch · 578 U.S. 452 (2016)
• Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle · 579 U.S. 59 (2016)
• United States v. Haymond · 588 U.S. 634 (2019)
• Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · 591 U.S. 197 (2020)
• Apprendi v. New Jersey · 530 U.S. 466 (2000)
• Harmelin v. Michigan · 501 U.S. 957 (1991)
• Koon v. United States · 518 U.S. 81 (1996)
• Stinson v. United States · 508 U.S. 36 (1993)
• United States v. Dunnigan · 507 U.S. 87 (1993)

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).