United States v. Naftalin

Decided May 21, 1979. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-561 · 441 U.S. 768 (1979) · Cited 327 times

Holding

Section 17(a)(1) prohibits frauds against brokers as well as investors.

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 8–0.

“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.

• Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder · 425 U.S. 185 (1976)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. National Securities, Inc. · 393 U.S. 453 (1969)
• United States v. Culbert · 435 U.S. 371 (1978)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Superintendent of Insurance of New York v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co. · 404 U.S. 6 (1971)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Capital Gains Research Bureau, Inc. · 375 U.S. 180 (1963)
• United States v. Gilliland · 312 U.S. 86 (1941)
• United States v. Campos-Serrano · 404 U.S. 293 (1971)
• Keppel v. Tiffin Savings Bank · 197 U.S. 356 (1905)
• Costanzo v. Tillinghast · 287 U.S. 341 (1932)

Cited by

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

• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Lorenzo v. SEC. & Exch. Comm'n · 587 U.S. 71 (2019)
• Holmes v. Securities Investor Protection Corporation · 503 U.S. 258 (1992)
• Chiarella v. United States · 445 U.S. 222 (1980)
• Williams v. United States · 458 U.S. 279 (1982)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• United States v. Batchelder · 442 U.S. 114 (1979)
• Pinter v. Dahl · 486 U.S. 622 (1988)
• Aaron v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 446 U.S. 680 (1980)
• United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc. · 489 U.S. 235 (1989)
• United States v. Turkette · 452 U.S. 576 (1981)
• Herman & MacLean v. Huddleston · 459 U.S. 375 (1983)
• Corley v. United States · 556 U.S. 303 (2009)
• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)
• Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Moskal v. United States · 498 U.S. 103 (1990)
• Gutierrez De Martinez v. Lamagno · 515 U.S. 417 (1995)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Dabit · 547 U.S. 71 (2006)
• United States v. O'Hagan · 521 U.S. 642 (1997)
• United States v. Monsanto · 491 U.S. 600 (1989)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Zandford · 535 U.S. 813 (2002)
• Randall v. Loftsgaarden · 478 U.S. 647 (1986)
• North Carolina Department of Transportation v. Crest Street Community Council, Inc. · 479 U.S. 6 (1986)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1979). 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).