Reid, Superintendent, District of Columbia Jail, v. Covert

Decided June 10, 1957. Hugo Lafayette Black delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 701 · 354 U.S. 1 (1957) · Cited 828 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

“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 Ex Rel. Toth v. Quarles · 350 U.S. 11 (1955)
• Dorr v. United States · 195 U.S. 138 (1904)
• Ex Parte Milligan · 71 U.S. 2 (1867)
• Downes v. Bidwell · 182 U.S. 244 (1901)
• Balzac v. Porto Rico · 258 U.S. 298 (1922)
• Thompson v. Utah · 170 U.S. 343 (1898)
• Ex Parte Quirin · 317 U.S. 1 (1942)
• Powell v. Alabama · 287 U.S. 45 (1932)
• Burns v. Wilson · 346 U.S. 137 (1953)
• Duncan v. Kahanamoku · 327 U.S. 304 (1946)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Betts v. Brady · 316 U.S. 455 (1942)
• United States v. Darby · 312 U.S. 100 (1941)
• Ogden v. Saunders · 25 U.S. 213 (1827)
• Barron Ex Rel. Tiernan v. Mayor of Baltimore · 32 U.S. 243 (1833)
• Johnson v. Eisentrager · 339 U.S. 763 (1950)
• Edye v. Robertson · 112 U.S. 580 (1884)
• Graves v. New York Ex Rel. O'Keefe · 306 U.S. 466 (1939)
• Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia Steamship Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration · 113 U.S. 33 (1885)
• Whitney v. Robertson · 124 U.S. 190 (1888)
• In Re Grimley · 137 U.S. 147 (1890)
• Ex Parte Bakelite Corp'n. · 279 U.S. 438 (1929)
• United States v. Bowman · 260 U.S. 94 (1922)
• Clark v. Allen · 331 U.S. 503 (1947)
• Geofroy v. Riggs · 133 U.S. 258 (1890)
• Moser v. United States · 341 U.S. 41 (1951)
• United States v. Commodities Trading Corp. · 339 U.S. 121 (1950)
• Mitchell v. Harmony · 54 U.S. 115 (1852)
• United States v. Minnesota · 270 U.S. 181 (1926)

Cited by

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

• Kinsella v. United States Ex Rel. Singleton · 361 U.S. 234 (1960)
• Boumediene v. Bush · 553 U.S. 723 (2008)
• United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez · 494 U.S. 259 (1990)
• O'Callahan v. Parker · 395 U.S. 258 (1969)
• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• Loving v. United States · 517 U.S. 748 (1996)
• Solorio v. United States · 483 U.S. 435 (1987)
• McElroy v. United States Ex Rel. Guagliardo · 361 U.S. 281 (1960)
• Financial Oversight and Management Bd. for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC · 590 U.S. 448 (2020)
• Schlesinger v. Councilman · 420 U.S. 738 (1975)
• Gosa v. Mayden · 413 U.S. 665 (1973)
• Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts · 557 U.S. 305 (2009)
• Parker v. Levy · 417 U.S. 733 (1974)
• United States v. DiFrancesco · 449 U.S. 117 (1980)
• Obergefell v. Hodges · 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
• Hamdan v. Rumsfeld · 548 U.S. 557 (2006)
• Republic of Sudan v. Harrison · 587 U.S. 1 (2019)
• Ortiz v. United States · 585 U.S. 427 (2018)
• Furman v. Georgia · 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co. · 458 U.S. 50 (1982)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• Laird v. Tatum · 408 U.S. 1 (1972)
• Examining Bd. of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors v. Flores De Otero · 426 U.S. 572 (1976)
• United States v. Denedo · 556 U.S. 904 (2009)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• United States v. Raddatz · 447 U.S. 667 (1980)
• Stern v. Marshall · 564 U.S. 462 (2011)
• Trop v. Dulles · 356 U.S. 86 (1958)

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).