United States v. Halper

Decided May 15, 1989. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1383 · 490 U.S. 435 (1989) · Cited 1,945 times

Holding

The statutory penalty authorized by the Act, as applied to respondent, violates the Double Jeopardy Clause.

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 Ex Rel. Marcus v. Hess · 317 U.S. 537 (1943)
• Helvering v. Mitchell · 303 U.S. 391 (1938)
• Rex Trailer Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 148 (1956)
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez · 372 U.S. 144 (1963)
• United States v. Ward · 448 U.S. 242 (1980)
• Hicks Ex Rel. Feiock v. Feiock · 485 U.S. 624 (1988)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• Missouri v. Hunter · 459 U.S. 359 (1983)
• Ex Parte Lange · 85 U.S. 163 (1874)
• Ohio v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 493 (1984)
• United States v. Balint · 258 U.S. 250 (1922)
• One Lot Emerald Cut Stones and One Ring v. United States · 409 U.S. 232 (1972)
• Day v. Woodworth · 54 U.S. 363 (1852)
• United States v. La Franca · 282 U.S. 568 (1931)
• Peterson v. Mathews · 423 U.S. 830 (1975)
• Morris v. Mathews · 475 U.S. 237 (1986)

Cited by

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

• Department of Revenue of Mont. v. Kurth Ranch · 511 U.S. 767 (1994)
• United States v. Ursery · 518 U.S. 267 (1996)
• Hudson v. United States · 522 U.S. 93 (1997)
• Austin v. United States · 509 U.S. 602 (1993)
• Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., Inc. · 556 U.S. 868 (2009)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Seling v. Young · 531 U.S. 250 (2001)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• Witte v. United States · 515 U.S. 389 (1995)
• Jones v. Thomas · 491 U.S. 376 (1989)
• Bennis v. Michigan · 516 U.S. 442 (1996)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Dowling v. United States · 493 U.S. 342 (1990)
• Cook County v. United States Ex Rel. Chandler · 538 U.S. 119 (2003)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Harry Andrew Blackmun’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).