William J. Burns v. United States

Decided June 13, 1991. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-7260 · 501 U.S. 129 (1991) · Cited 848 times

Holding

Before a district court can depart upward from the applicable Guidelines range on a ground not identified as a ground for such departure either in the presentence report or in a prehearing submission by the Government, Rule 32 requires that the court give the parties reasonable notice that it is contemplating such a ruling, specifically identifying the ground for the departure.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal & Correctional Complex · 442 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council · 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill · 470 U.S. 532 (1985)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. · 339 U.S. 306 (1950)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• United States v. Tucker · 404 U.S. 443 (1972)
• Mistretta v. United States · 488 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Kent v. United States · 383 U.S. 541 (1966)
• Gardner v. Florida · 430 U.S. 349 (1977)
• Greene v. McElroy · 360 U.S. 474 (1959)
• Parham v. J. R. · 442 U.S. 584 (1979)
• West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. v. Casey · 499 U.S. 83 (1991)
• Wong Yang Sung v. McGrath · 339 U.S. 33 (1950)
• Green v. Bock Laundry MacHine Co. · 490 U.S. 504 (1989)
• American Power & Light Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 329 U.S. 90 (1946)
• Wasman v. United States · 468 U.S. 559 (1984)
• Dixon v. Love · 431 U.S. 105 (1977)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• The Japanese Immigrant Case · 189 U.S. 86 (1903)
• Iselin v. United States · 270 U.S. 245 (1926)
• General Motors Corp. v. United States · 496 U.S. 530 (1990)

Cited by

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

• Irizarry v. United States · 553 U.S. 708 (2008)
• Rita v. United States · 551 U.S. 338 (2007)
• United States v. Watts · 519 U.S. 148 (1997)
• Medina v. California · 505 U.S. 437 (1992)
• Koon v. United States · 518 U.S. 81 (1996)
• Stinson v. United States · 508 U.S. 36 (1993)
• United States v. Vonn · 535 U.S. 55 (2002)
• Dillon v. United States · 560 U.S. 817 (2010)
• United States v. Dunnigan · 507 U.S. 87 (1993)
• Witte v. United States · 515 U.S. 389 (1995)
• Cook County v. United States Ex Rel. Chandler · 538 U.S. 119 (2003)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Thurgood Marshall’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). 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).