United States v. Humberto Alvarez-Machain
504 U.S. 655 · Decided June 15, 1992 · 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
United States v. Humberto Alvarez-Machain was decided on June 15, 1992 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Subconstitutional fair procedure, miscellaneous” in the Criminal Procedure area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 504 U.S. 655 · 112 S. Ct. 2188 · 119 L. Ed. 2d 441 · 1992 U.S. LEXIS 3679
- Docket number
- 91-712
- Decided
- June 15, 1992
- Argued
- April 1, 1992
- Court era
- Rehnquist Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority opinion
- William H. Rehnquist
- Opinion assigned by
- William H. Rehnquist
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Subconstitutional fair procedure, miscellaneous
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- Treaty
- Type of law
- Other
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | |
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Dissent | |
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Dissent | |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority | |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Majority | |
| Justice David H. Souter | Majority | |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Majority |
Full case caption
United States v. Humberto Alvarez-Machain
SCDB identifiers: case 1991-089, docket 1991-089-01.
Related decisions
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Cases on the same legal provision: Treaty
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- Marjorie Zicherman, Etc. v. Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd.
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Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- United States v. Alejandro Garcia Ibarra
- Wayne Estelle v. Mark Owen McGuire
- Guy Wooddell, Jr. v. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
- In re James Blodgett
- Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Joseph Patrick Doherty
- Randall D. White v. Illinois
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