Townsend v. Burke

334 U.S. 736 · Decided June 14, 1948 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Townsend v. Burke was decided on June 14, 1948 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 “Involuntary confession” 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

Townsend v. Burke, Warden

SCDB identifiers: case 1947-107, docket 1947-107-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Involuntary confession”

• Lee v. Mississippi
  332 U.S. 742Decided January 19, 19489–0Frank Murphy
• Haley v. Ohio
  332 U.S. 596Decided January 12, 19485–4William O. Douglas
• Upshaw v. United States
  335 U.S. 410Decided December 13, 19485–4Hugo L. Black
• Watts v. Indiana
  338 U.S. 49Decided June 27, 19496–3Felix Frankfurter
• Turner v. Pennsylvania
  338 U.S. 62Decided June 27, 19495–4Felix Frankfurter
• Harris v. South Carolina
  338 U.S. 68Decided June 27, 19495–4Felix Frankfurter

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (self-incrimination)

• Adamson v. California
  332 U.S. 46Decided June 23, 19475–4Stanley F. Reed
• Blau v. United States
  340 U.S. 159Decided December 11, 19508–0Hugo L. Black
• Rogers v. United States
  340 U.S. 367Decided February 26, 19515–3Fred M. Vinson
• Hoffman v. United States
  341 U.S. 479Decided May 28, 19518–1Tom C. Clark
• United States v. Kahriger
  345 U.S. 22Decided March 9, 19536–3Stanley F. Reed
• Regan v. New York
  349 U.S. 58Decided April 25, 19556–2Stanley F. Reed

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Rodgers v. United States
  332 U.S. 371Decided November 10, 19477–2Hugo L. Black
• Blumenthal v. United States
  332 U.S. 539Decided December 22, 19479–0Wiley B. Rutledge
• Marino v. Ragen
  332 U.S. 561Decided December 22, 19479–0Per curiam
• Sealfon v. United States
  332 U.S. 575Decided January 5, 19489–0William O. Douglas
• United States v. Di re
  332 U.S. 581Decided January 5, 19487–2Robert H. Jackson
• Haley v. Ohio
  332 U.S. 596Decided January 12, 19485–4William O. Douglas

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