Murray v. United States
Decided June 27, 1988. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 86-995 · 487 U.S. 533 (1988) · Cited 1,424 times
Holding
The Fourth Amendment does not require the suppression of evidence initially discovered during police officers' illegal entry of private premises, if that evidence is also discovered during a later search pursuant to a valid warrant that is wholly independent of the initial illegal entry.
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 4–3.
Majority · 4
- Antonin Scalia · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 3
- John Paul Stevens · filed a dissenting opinion
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Thurgood Marshall · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Nix v. Williams · 467 U.S. 431 (1984)
- Segura v. United States · 468 U.S. 796 (1984)
- Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States · 251 U.S. 385 (1920)
- United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
- Elkins v. United States · 364 U.S. 206 (1960)
- Wong Sun v. United States · 371 U.S. 471 (1963)
- United States v. Wade · 388 U.S. 218 (1967)
- Nardone v. United States · 308 U.S. 338 (1939)
- Silverman v. United States · 365 U.S. 505 (1961)
- Costello v. United States · 365 U.S. 265 (1961)
- Henderson v. United States · 476 U.S. 321 (1986)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Hudson v. Michigan · 547 U.S. 586 (2006)
- Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
- New York v. Harris · 495 U.S. 14 (1990)
- Utah v. Strieff · 579 U.S. 232 (2016)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). 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).