Wolf v. Colorado
Decided June 27, 1949. Felix Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 17 · 338 U.S. 25 (1949) · Cited 1,554 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 6–3.
Majority · 5
- Felix Frankfurter · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Frederick Moore Vinson
- Harold Hitz Burton
- Robert Houghwout Jackson
- Stanley Forman Reed
Concurring · 1
- Hugo Lafayette Black · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 3
- Frank Murphy · filed a dissenting opinion
- Wiley Blount Rutledge · filed a dissenting opinion
- William Orville Douglas · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
- Adamson v. California · 332 U.S. 46 (1947)
- Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
- Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States · 251 U.S. 385 (1920)
- Harris v. United States · 331 U.S. 145 (1947)
- Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
- McNabb v. United States · 318 U.S. 332 (1943)
- McDonald v. United States · 335 U.S. 451 (1948)
- Brown v. Mississippi · 297 U.S. 278 (1936)
- Twining v. New Jersey · 211 U.S. 78 (1908)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
- Linkletter v. Walker · 381 U.S. 618 (1965)
- Elkins v. United States · 364 U.S. 206 (1960)
- Irvine v. California · 347 U.S. 128 (1954)
- United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
- Hudson v. Michigan · 547 U.S. 586 (2006)
- Lee v. Florida · 392 U.S. 378 (1968)
- United States v. Peltier · 422 U.S. 531 (1975)
- Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
- McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
- Frank v. Maryland · 359 U.S. 360 (1959)
- Cleary v. Bolger · 371 U.S. 392 (1963)
- Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
- United States v. Janis · 428 U.S. 433 (1976)
- Stefanelli v. Minard · 342 U.S. 117 (1951)
- Rea v. United States · 350 U.S. 214 (1956)
- Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
- Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
- Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
- United States v. Rabinowitz · 339 U.S. 56 (1950)
- Herring v. United States · 555 U.S. 135 (2009)
- Tehan v. United States Ex Rel. Shott · 382 U.S. 406 (1966)
- Maryland v. King · 569 U.S. 435 (2013)
- Collins v. Virginia · 584 U.S. 586 (2018)
- Salsburg v. Maryland · 346 U.S. 545 (1954)
- Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
- Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
- Coolidge v. New Hampshire · 403 U.S. 443 (1971)
- Spinelli v. United States · 393 U.S. 410 (1969)
- Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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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).