William Daubert, et Ux., Etc., et al. v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Decided June 28, 1993. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 92-102 · 509 U.S. 579 (1993) · Cited 21,376 times

Holding

The Federal Rules of Evidence, not Frye, provide the standard for admitting expert scientific testimony in a federal trial.

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.

• United States v. Abel · 469 U.S. 45 (1984)
• Bourjaily v. United States · 483 U.S. 171 (1987)
• Beech Aircraft Corp. v. Rainey · 488 U.S. 153 (1988)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Rock v. Arkansas · 483 U.S. 44 (1987)

Cited by

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

• Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael · 526 U.S. 137 (1999)
• General Electric Co. v. Joiner · 522 U.S. 136 (1997)
• United States v. Scheffer · 523 U.S. 303 (1998)
• Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo · 577 U.S. 442 (2016)
• Tome v. United States · 513 U.S. 150 (1995)
• Comcast Corp. v. Behrend · 569 U.S. 27 (2013)
• Weisgram v. Marley Co. · 528 U.S. 440 (2000)
• Glossip v. Gross · 576 U.S. 863 (2015)
• Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. · 551 U.S. 308 (2007)
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes · 564 U.S. 338 (2011)
• Lincoln Property Co. v. Roche · 546 U.S. 81 (2005)
• Williamson v. United States · 512 U.S. 594 (1994)
• Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board · 520 U.S. 471 (1997)
• Diaz v. United States · 602 U.S. 526 (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 (1993). 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).