Richard Demarest v. James, Manspeaker et al.

Decided January 8, 1991. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-5916 · 498 U.S. 184 (1991) · Cited 354 times

Holding

Section 1821 requires payment of witness fees to a convicted state prisoner who testifies at a federal trial pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Hurtado v. United States · 410 U.S. 578 (1973)
• Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc. · 458 U.S. 564 (1982)
• Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill · 437 U.S. 153 (1978)
• Leary v. United States · 395 U.S. 6 (1969)
• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)
• Burlington Northern Railroad v. Oklahoma Tax Commission · 481 U.S. 454 (1987)
• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio v. Betts · 492 U.S. 158 (1989)
• Lytle v. Household Manufacturing, Inc. · 494 U.S. 545 (1990)

Cited by

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

• Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co. · 505 U.S. 469 (1992)
• Central Bank of Denver, N. A. v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, N. A. · 511 U.S. 164 (1994)
• Freytag v. Commissioner · 501 U.S. 868 (1991)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Brown v. Gardner · 513 U.S. 115 (1994)
• Chisom v. Roemer · 501 U.S. 380 (1991)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement v. Johnson Controls, Inc. · 499 U.S. 187 (1991)
• Department of Revenue of Ore. v. ACF Industries, Inc. · 510 U.S. 332 (1994)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). 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).