United States v. Sisson
Decided June 29, 1970. John Marshall Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 305 · 399 U.S. 267 (1970) · Cited 388 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 5–3.
Majority · 4
- John Marshall Harlan · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Potter Stewart
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Concurring · 1
Dissenting · 3
- Byron Raymond White · filed a dissenting opinion
- Warren Earl Burger · filed a dissenting opinion
- William Orville Douglas
“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 v. Covington · 395 U.S. 57 (1969)
- United States v. Norris · 281 U.S. 619 (1930)
- United States v. Green · 350 U.S. 415 (1956)
- United States v. Murdock · 284 U.S. 141 (1931)
- United States v. Blue · 384 U.S. 251 (1966)
- United States v. Fruehauf · 365 U.S. 146 (1961)
- Bond v. Dustin · 112 U.S. 604 (1884)
- United States v. Ball · 163 U.S. 662 (1896)
- United States v. Borden Co. · 308 U.S. 188 (1939)
- Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp · 397 U.S. 150 (1970)
- Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
- Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, Local 770 · 398 U.S. 235 (1970)
- Will v. United States · 389 U.S. 90 (1967)
- United States v. Seeger · 380 U.S. 163 (1965)
- Barlow v. Collins · 397 U.S. 159 (1970)
- Toussie v. United States · 397 U.S. 112 (1970)
- Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
- United States v. Rabinowich · 238 U.S. 78 (1915)
- Carroll v. United States · 354 U.S. 394 (1957)
- United States v. Bramblett · 348 U.S. 503 (1955)
- United States v. Hark · 320 U.S. 531 (1944)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. Wilson · 420 U.S. 332 (1975)
- United States v. Jorn · 400 U.S. 470 (1971)
- Carlisle v. United States · 517 U.S. 416 (1996)
- Serfass v. United States · 420 U.S. 377 (1975)
- United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co. · 430 U.S. 564 (1977)
- United States v. Scott · 437 U.S. 82 (1978)
- New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira · 586 U.S. 105 (2019)
- Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
- Rose v. Lundy · 455 U.S. 509 (1982)
- Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn · 420 U.S. 469 (1975)
- Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid · 490 U.S. 730 (1989)
- Crist v. Bretz · 437 U.S. 28 (1978)
- Sanabria v. United States · 437 U.S. 54 (1978)
- United States v. Brewster · 408 U.S. 501 (1972)
- Arizona v. Manypenny · 451 U.S. 232 (1981)
- United States v. Jenkins · 420 U.S. 358 (1975)
- United States v. Vuitch · 402 U.S. 62 (1971)
- Smith v. Massachusetts · 543 U.S. 462 (2005)
- Swisher v. Brady · 438 U.S. 204 (1978)
- Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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John Marshall Harlan’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
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).