Johnson v. Eisentrager

339 U.S. 763 · Decided June 5, 1950 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Johnson v. Eisentrager was decided on June 5, 1950 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Robert H. Jackson wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Habeas corpus” 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

Johnson, Secretary of Defense, et al. v. Eisentrager, Alias Ehrhardt, et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1949-091, docket 1949-091-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Habeas corpus”

• Gusik v. Schilder
  340 U.S. 128Decided December 4, 19509–0William O. Douglas
• Young v. Ragen
  337 U.S. 235Decided June 6, 19499–0Fred M. Vinson
• Humphrey v. Smith
  336 U.S. 695Decided April 25, 19496–3Hugo L. Black
• United States v. Hayman
  342 U.S. 205Decided January 7, 19528–0Fred M. Vinson
• Frisbie v. Collins
  342 U.S. 519Decided March 10, 19529–0Hugo L. Black
• Ahrens v. Clark
  335 U.S. 188Decided June 21, 19486–3William O. Douglas

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (due process)

• Ewing v. Mytinger & Casselberry, Inc.
  339 U.S. 594Decided May 29, 19506–2William O. Douglas
• Jordan v. de George
  341 U.S. 223Decided May 7, 19516–3Fred M. Vinson
• Federal Communications Commission v. WJR
  337 U.S. 265Decided June 6, 19498–0Wiley B. Rutledge
• Dennis v. United States
  341 U.S. 494Decided June 4, 19516–2Fred M. Vinson
• Ludecke v. Watkins
  335 U.S. 160Decided June 21, 19485–4Felix Frankfurter
• Shaughnessy v. United States ex Rel. Mezei
  345 U.S. 206Decided March 16, 19535–4Tom C. Clark

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Bryan v. United States
  338 U.S. 552Decided January 16, 19508–0Sherman Minton
• District of Columbia v. Little
  339 U.S. 1Decided February 20, 19506–2Hugo L. Black
• United States v. RabinowitzAltered precedent
  339 U.S. 56Decided February 20, 19505–3Sherman Minton
• Dennis v. United States
  339 U.S. 162Decided March 27, 19505–2Sherman Minton
• Morford v. United States
  339 U.S. 258Decided April 10, 19508–0Per curiam
• United States v. Bryan
  339 U.S. 323Decided May 8, 19505–2Fred M. Vinson

See all

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