Russello v. United States

Decided November 1, 1983. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-472 · 464 U.S. 16 (1983) · Cited 2,703 times

Holding

The insurance proceeds petitioner received as a result of his arson activities constitute an "interest" within the meaning of 1963(a)(1) and are therefore subject to forfeiture.

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.

• United States v. Turkette · 452 U.S. 576 (1981)
• United States v. Naftalin · 441 U.S. 768 (1979)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co. · 455 U.S. 422 (1982)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Richards v. United States · 369 U.S. 1 (1962)
• Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc. · 460 U.S. 103 (1983)
• Callanan v. United States · 364 U.S. 587 (1961)
• North Haven Board of Education v. Bell · 456 U.S. 512 (1982)
• United States v. Price · 361 U.S. 304 (1960)
• Arizona v. California · 373 U.S. 546 (1963)
• Jago v. Van Curen · 454 U.S. 14 (1981)
• United States v. Clark · 445 U.S. 23 (1980)

Cited by

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

• City of Columbus v. Ours Garage & Wrecker Service, Inc. · 536 U.S. 424 (2002)
• Sedima, S. P. R. L. v. Imrex Co. · 473 U.S. 479 (1985)
• Abbott v. Abbott · 560 U.S. 1 (2010)
• Gallardo v. Marstiller · 596 U.S. 420 (2022)
• H. J. Inc. v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. · 492 U.S. 229 (1989)
• Reves v. Ernst & Young · 507 U.S. 170 (1993)
• Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media · 589 U.S. 327 (2020)
• Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co. · 534 U.S. 438 (2002)
• Lopez v. Gonzales · 549 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• Stokeling v. United States · 586 U.S. 73 (2019)
• Negusie v. Holder · 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• Mellouli v. Lynch · 575 U.S. 798 (2015)
• Babb v. Wilkie · 589 U.S. 399 (2020)
• Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. · 554 U.S. 33 (2008)
• Azar v. Allina Health Services · 587 U.S. 566 (2019)
• Sandoz Inc. v. Amgen Inc. · 582 U.S. 1 (2017)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Corley v. United States · 556 U.S. 303 (2009)
• Garcia v. United States · 469 U.S. 70 (1984)
• Alexander v. United States · 509 U.S. 544 (1993)
• Dean v. United States · 556 U.S. 568 (2009)
• General Motors Corp. v. United States · 496 U.S. 530 (1990)
• City and County of San Francisco v. EPA · 604 U.S. 334 (2025)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White · 548 U.S. 53 (2006)
• Taylor v. United States · 495 U.S. 575 (1990)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett · 531 U.S. 356 (2001)
• Field v. Mans · 516 U.S. 59 (1995)
• United States v. Wilson · 503 U.S. 329 (1992)
• Omni Capital International, Ltd. v. Rudolf Wolff & Co. · 484 U.S. 97 (1987)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).