United States v. John Doe, Inc. I

481 U.S. 102 · Decided April 21, 1987 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States v. John Doe, Inc. I was decided on April 21, 1987 by a vote of 5–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure” 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: Byron R. White.

Full case caption

United States v. John Doe, Inc. I, et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1986-070, docket 1986-070-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

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Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

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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