Victor a. Rita v. United States

Decided June 21, 2007. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 06-5754 · 551 U.S. 338 (2007) · Cited 7,739 times

Holding

T o qualify as “strong ” within the intendment of § 21D(b)(2), an inference of scienter must be more than merely plausible or reasonable— it must be cogent and at least as compelling as any opposing inference of nonfraudulent intent.

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 8–1.

“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. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Apprendi v. New Jersey · 530 U.S. 466 (2000)
• Blakely v. Washington · 542 U.S. 296 (2004)
• Koon v. United States · 518 U.S. 81 (1996)
• Cunningham v. California · 549 U.S. 270 (2007)
• Jones v. United States · 526 U.S. 227 (1999)
• Pierce v. Underwood · 487 U.S. 552 (1988)
• Clark v. Martinez · 543 U.S. 371 (2005)
• Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp. · 496 U.S. 384 (1990)
• Williams v. United States · 503 U.S. 193 (1992)
• Dorszynski v. United States · 418 U.S. 424 (1974)
• Alaska Airlines, Inc. v. Brock · 480 U.S. 678 (1987)
• Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. · 530 U.S. 133 (2000)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Ring v. Arizona · 536 U.S. 584 (2002)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Solem v. Helm · 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
• Williams v. New York · 337 U.S. 241 (1949)
• Mistretta v. United States · 488 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Miller v. Fenton · 474 U.S. 104 (1985)
• Harris v. United States · 536 U.S. 545 (2002)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• Apodaca v. Oregon · 406 U.S. 404 (1972)
• Burns v. United States · 501 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez · 540 U.S. 44 (2003)
• United States v. Taylor · 487 U.S. 326 (1988)
• Ballew v. Georgia · 435 U.S. 223 (1978)
• Sun Oil Co. v. Wortman · 486 U.S. 717 (1988)
• Burch v. Louisiana · 441 U.S. 130 (1979)

Cited by

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

• Kimbrough v. United States · 552 U.S. 85 (2007)
• Gall v. United States · 552 U.S. 38 (2007)
• Peugh v. United States · 569 U.S. 530 (2013)
• Chavez-Meza v. United States · 585 U.S. 109 (2018)
• Nelson v. United States · 555 U.S. 350 (2009)
• Molina-Martinez v. United States · 578 U.S. 189 (2016)
• Rosales-Mireles v. United States · 585 U.S. 129 (2018)
• Irizarry v. United States · 553 U.S. 708 (2008)
• Holguin-Hernandez v. United States · 589 U.S. 169 (2020)
• Concepcion v. United States · 597 U.S. 481 (2022)
• Greenlaw v. United States · 554 U.S. 237 (2008)
• Beckles v. United States · 580 U.S. 256 (2017)
• Dillon v. United States · 560 U.S. 817 (2010)
• Spears v. United States · 555 U.S. 261 (2009)
• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Pulsifer v. United States · 601 U.S. 124 (2024)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2007). 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).