Cammer v. United States
350 U.S. 399 · Decided March 12, 1956 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Cammer v. United States was decided on March 12, 1956 unanimously (8–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Hugo L. Black wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Contempt of court or Congress” in the Criminal Procedure area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 350 U.S. 399 · 76 S. Ct. 456 · 100 L. Ed. 2d 474 · 1956 U.S. LEXIS 1737
- Docket number
- 110
- Decided
- March 12, 1956
- Argued
- January 24, 1956
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 8–0 (unanimous)
- Majority opinion
- Hugo L. Black
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Contempt of court or Congress
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- 18 U.S.C. § 401
- Type of law
- Infrequently litigated statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Majority | |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Majority | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Justice Tom C. Clark | Majority | |
| Justice Sherman Minton | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority |
Did not participate: John M. Harlan II.
Full case caption
Cammer v. United States
SCDB identifiers: case 1955-037, docket 1955-037-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Contempt of court or Congress”
- Nilva v. United States
- Courtney v. Schroeder.
- National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards v. Arnold
- Offutt v. United States
- Yates v. United States
- Green v. United States
Cases on the same legal provision: 18 U.S.C. § 401
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- Chessman v. Teets
- Pennsylvania ex Rel. Herman v. Claudy
- Rex Trailer Co., Inc. v. United States
- Rea v. United States
- Gibson v. Lockheed Aircraft Service, Inc.
- Costello v. United States
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