Adams v. Williams

407 U.S. 143 · Decided June 12, 1972 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Adams v. Williams was decided on June 12, 1972 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Search and seizure, vehicles” in the Criminal Procedure area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Adams, Warden v. Williams

SCDB identifiers: case 1971-138, docket 1971-138-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Search and seizure, vehicles”

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  412 U.S. 218Decided May 29, 19736–3Potter Stewart
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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourth Amendment

• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Plamondon
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  411 U.S. 223Decided April 17, 19739–0Warren E. Burger

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Harris v. Washington
  404 U.S. 55Decided November 16, 19715–2Per curiam
• Cruz v. Hauck
  404 U.S. 59Decided November 16, 19717–0Per curiam
• Wilwording v. Swenson
  404 U.S. 249Decided December 14, 19716–1Per curiam
• Santobello v. New York
  404 U.S. 257Decided December 20, 19714–3Warren E. Burger
• Picard v. Connor
  404 U.S. 270Decided December 20, 19716–1William J. Brennan Jr.
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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error