Swain, Reformatory Superintendent v. Pressley
Decided March 22, 1977. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 75-811 · 430 U.S. 372 (1977) · Cited 503 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 9–0.
Majority · 5
- John Paul Stevens · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Potter Stewart
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Concurring · 4
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
- Warren Earl Burger · filed a concurring opinion
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
“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. Hayman · 342 U.S. 205 (1952)
- Palmore v. United States · 411 U.S. 389 (1973)
- Schneckloth v. Bustamonte · 412 U.S. 218 (1973)
- Hill v. United States · 368 U.S. 424 (1962)
- Pernell v. Southall Realty · 416 U.S. 363 (1974)
- Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
- Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
- Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
- United States v. Rumely · 345 U.S. 41 (1953)
- United States v. Sullivan · 332 U.S. 689 (1948)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Boumediene v. Bush · 553 U.S. 723 (2008)
- Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr · 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
- Hamdan v. Rumsfeld · 548 U.S. 557 (2006)
- Felker v. Turpin · 518 U.S. 651 (1996)
- Jones v. Hendrix · 599 U.S. 465 (2023)
- District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman · 460 U.S. 462 (1983)
- United States v. Frady · 456 U.S. 152 (1982)
- Blackledge v. Allison · 431 U.S. 63 (1977)
- United States v. Batchelder · 442 U.S. 114 (1979)
- Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison · 432 U.S. 63 (1977)
- Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
- Rasul v. Bush · 542 U.S. 466 (2004)
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).