United States Ex Rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, Acting District Director of Immigration and Naturalization

Decided January 16, 1950. Sherman Minton delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 54 · 338 U.S. 537 (1950) · Cited 577 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 4–3.

“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.

• Fong Yue Ting v. United States · 149 U.S. 698 (1893)
• Nishimura Ekiu v. United States · 142 U.S. 651 (1892)
• Ludecke v. Watkins · 335 U.S. 160 (1948)
• In Re Oliver · 333 U.S. 257 (1948)
• United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. · 299 U.S. 304 (1936)
• The Japanese Immigrant Case · 189 U.S. 86 (1903)
• Lichter v. United States · 334 U.S. 742 (1948)
• Woods v. Cloyd W. Miller Co. · 333 U.S. 138 (1948)

Cited by

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

• Department of State v. Munoz · 602 U.S. 899 (2024)
• Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam · 591 U.S. 103 (2020)
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath · 341 U.S. 123 (1951)
• Shaughnessy v. United States Ex Rel. Mezei · 345 U.S. 206 (1953)
• Jay v. Boyd · 351 U.S. 345 (1956)
• Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding · 344 U.S. 590 (1953)
• Landon v. Plasencia · 459 U.S. 21 (1982)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Jean v. Nelson · 472 U.S. 846 (1985)
• Kerry v. Din · 576 U.S. 86 (2015)
• Zadvydas v. Davis · 533 U.S. 678 (2001)
• Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Jones v. Cunningham · 371 U.S. 236 (1963)
• Greene v. McElroy · 360 U.S. 474 (1959)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel · 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• Carlson v. Landon · 342 U.S. 524 (1952)
• Gutierrez v. Saenz · 606 U.S. 305 (2025)

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).