Whalen v. United States

Decided April 16, 1980. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-5471 · 445 U.S. 684 (1980) · Cited 1,789 times

Holding

The Court of Appeals was mistaken in believing that Congress authorized consecutive sentences in the circumstances of this case, and that error denied petitioner his right to be deprived of liberty as punishment for criminal conduct only to the extent authorized by Congress.

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 7–2.

“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.

• Blockburger v. United States · 284 U.S. 299 (1931)
• Brown v. Ohio · 432 U.S. 161 (1977)
• Pernell v. Southall Realty · 416 U.S. 363 (1974)
• Bell v. United States · 349 U.S. 81 (1955)
• Simpson v. United States · 435 U.S. 6 (1978)
• Ex Parte Lange · 85 U.S. 163 (1874)
• Gore v. United States · 357 U.S. 386 (1958)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• Harris v. Oklahoma · 433 U.S. 682 (1977)
• Iannelli v. United States · 420 U.S. 770 (1975)
• Jeffers v. United States · 432 U.S. 137 (1977)
• Ladner v. United States · 358 U.S. 169 (1958)
• Griffin v. United States · 336 U.S. 704 (1949)
• American Tobacco Co. v. United States · 328 U.S. 781 (1946)
• Sweezy v. New Hampshire Ex Rel. Wyman · 354 U.S. 234 (1957)
• United States v. Universal C. I. T. Credit Corp. · 344 U.S. 218 (1952)
• Morgan v. Devine · 237 U.S. 632 (1915)
• Fisher v. United States · 328 U.S. 463 (1946)
• Holiday v. Johnston · 313 U.S. 342 (1941)
• Ebeling v. Morgan · 237 U.S. 625 (1915)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Burks v. United States · 437 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Ashe v. Swenson · 397 U.S. 436 (1970)
• Mullaney v. Wilbur · 421 U.S. 684 (1975)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• Hagans v. Lavine · 415 U.S. 528 (1974)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Bouie v. City of Columbia · 378 U.S. 347 (1964)

Cited by

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

• Missouri v. Hunter · 459 U.S. 359 (1983)
• Albernaz v. United States · 450 U.S. 333 (1981)
• Busic v. United States · 446 U.S. 398 (1980)
• United States v. DiFrancesco · 449 U.S. 117 (1980)
• Rutledge v. United States · 517 U.S. 292 (1996)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
• Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill · 587 U.S. 658 (2019)
• Grady v. Corbin · 495 U.S. 508 (1990)
• Department of Revenue of Mont. v. Kurth Ranch · 511 U.S. 767 (1994)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Illinois v. Vitale · 447 U.S. 410 (1980)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Ball v. United States · 470 U.S. 856 (1985)
• Ohio v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 493 (1984)
• Garrett v. United States · 471 U.S. 773 (1985)
• Schall v. Martin · 467 U.S. 253 (1984)
• Bifulco v. United States · 447 U.S. 381 (1980)
• Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C. · 467 U.S. 138 (1984)
• Ortiz v. United States · 585 U.S. 427 (2018)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1980). 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).