United States Department of Justice v. Julian

486 U.S. 1 · Decided May 16, 1988 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States Department of Justice v. Julian was decided on May 16, 1988 by a vote of 5–3. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Discovery and inspection in criminal cases” 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

Did not participate: Anthony M. Kennedy.

Full case caption

United States Department of Justice et al. v. Julian et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1987-077, docket 1987-077-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Discovery and inspection in criminal cases”

• United States v. Zolin
  491 U.S. 554Decided June 21, 19898–0Harry A. Blackmun
• Pennsylvania v. Ritchie
  480 U.S. 39Decided February 24, 19875–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• United States v. R. Enterprises, Inc.
  498 U.S. 292Decided January 22, 19919–0Sandra Day O'Connor
• United States v. Bagley
  473 U.S. 667Decided July 2, 19855–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Illinois v. Abbott & Associates, Inc.
  460 U.S. 557Decided March 29, 19839–0John Paul Stevens
• Curtis Lee Kyles v. John P. Whitley
  514 U.S. 419Decided April 19, 19955–4David H. Souter

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Freedom of Information, Sunshine, or Privacy Act

• United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
  489 U.S. 749Decided March 22, 19899–0John Paul Stevens
• United States Department of Justice v. Tax Analysts
  492 U.S. 136Decided June 23, 19898–1Thurgood Marshall
• John Doe Agency and John Doe Government Agency v. John Doe Corporation
  493 U.S. 146Decided December 11, 19896–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Central Intelligence Agency v. Sims
  471 U.S. 159Decided April 16, 19859–0Warren E. Burger
• United States Department of Justice v. Provenzano
  469 U.S. 14Decided November 26, 19848–1Per curiam
• United States Department of State v. Michael D. Ray
  502 U.S. 164Decided December 16, 19918–0John Paul Stevens

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Carpenter v. United States
  484 U.S. 19Decided November 16, 19878–0Byron R. White
• Yates v. Aiken
  484 U.S. 211Decided January 12, 19888–0John Paul Stevens
• Lowenfield v. Phelps
  484 U.S. 231Decided January 13, 19885–3William H. Rehnquist
• Taylor v. Illinois
  484 U.S. 400Decided January 25, 19885–3John Paul Stevens
• United States v. Owens
  484 U.S. 554Decided February 23, 19886–2Antonin Scalia
• United States v. Thomas O. Robinson, Jr.
  485 U.S. 25Decided February 24, 19885–3William H. Rehnquist

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