United States v. Leonard Cotton, Marquette Hall, Lamont Thomas, Matilda Hall, Jovan Powell, Jesus Hall, and Stanley Hall, Jr.

Decided May 20, 2002. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 01-687 · 535 U.S. 625 (2002) · Cited 3,303 times

Holding

A suspended sentence that may “end up in the actual deprivation of a person’s liberty” may not be imposed unless the defendant was accorded “the guiding hand of counsel” in the prosecution for the crime charged.

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.

• Johnson v. United States · 520 U.S. 461 (1997)
• Ex Parte Bain · 121 U.S. 1 (1887)
• Apprendi v. New Jersey · 530 U.S. 466 (2000)
• United States v. Olano · 507 U.S. 725 (1993)
• Lamar v. United States · 240 U.S. 60 (1916)
• Jones v. United States · 526 U.S. 227 (1999)
• Stirone v. United States · 361 U.S. 212 (1960)
• Russell v. United States · 369 U.S. 749 (1962)
• Silber v. United States · 370 U.S. 717 (1962)
• United States v. Williams · 341 U.S. 58 (1951)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Yakus v. United States · 321 U.S. 414 (1944)
• Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Mottley · 211 U.S. 149 (1908)
• Custis v. United States · 511 U.S. 485 (1994)
• Smith v. United States · 360 U.S. 1 (1959)

Cited by

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

• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Nguyen v. United States · 539 U.S. 69 (2003)
• Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp. · 546 U.S. 500 (2006)
• Puckett v. United States · 556 U.S. 129 (2009)
• Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
• Rosales-Mireles v. United States · 585 U.S. 129 (2018)
• Greer v. United States · 593 U.S. 503 (2021)
• Union Pacific R. Co. v. Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Gen. Comm. of Adjustment, Central Region · 558 U.S. 67 (2009)
• Biden v. Texas · 597 U.S. 785 (2022)

Official text

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

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William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).