United States v. Dion

Decided June 11, 1986. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-246 · 476 U.S. 734 (1986) · Cited 199 times

Holding

The Court of Appeals erred in recognizing respondent's treaty defense to the prosecutions.

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.

• Menominee Tribe of Indians v. United States · 391 U.S. 404 (1968)
• Fong Yue Ting v. United States · 149 U.S. 698 (1893)
• Andrus v. Allard · 444 U.S. 51 (1979)
• Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Assn. · 443 U.S. 658 (1979)
• United States v. Winans · 198 U.S. 371 (1905)
• Mattz v. Arnett · 412 U.S. 481 (1973)
• Seminole Nation v. United States · 316 U.S. 286 (1942)
• Antoine v. Washington · 420 U.S. 194 (1975)
• Leavenworth, Lawrence, & Galveston Railroad v. United States · 92 U.S. 733 (1876)
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip · 430 U.S. 584 (1977)
• United States v. Santa Fe Pacific Railroad · 314 U.S. 339 (1942)
• Goldwater Et Al. v. Carter, President of the United States, Et Al. · 444 U.S. 996 (1979)

Cited by

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

• South Dakota v. Bourland · 508 U.S. 679 (1993)
• Herrera v. Wyoming · 587 U.S. 329 (2019)
• Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community · 572 U.S. 782 (2014)
• Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians · 526 U.S. 172 (1999)
• South Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe · 522 U.S. 329 (1998)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).