United States v. Knox

396 U.S. 77 · Decided December 8, 1969 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States v. Knox was decided on December 8, 1969 by a vote of 6–2. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice John M. Harlan II wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Self-incrimination (general)” 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

United States v. Knox

SCDB identifiers: case 1969-008, docket 1969-008-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Self-incrimination (general)”

• Minor v. United States
  396 U.S. 87Decided December 8, 19696–2Byron R. White
• United States v. Kordel
  397 U.S. 1Decided February 24, 19707–0Potter Stewart
• Williams v. FloridaAltered precedent
  399 U.S. 78Decided June 22, 19706–2Byron R. White
• Leary v. United StatesLaw held unconstitutional
  395 U.S. 6Decided May 19, 19698–0John M. Harlan II
• United States v. Covington
  395 U.S. 57Decided May 19, 19698–0John M. Harlan II
• United States v. Freed
  401 U.S. 601Decided April 5, 19719–0William O. Douglas

See all

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

• Brady v. United States
  397 U.S. 742Decided May 4, 19708–0Byron R. White
• Jenkins v. Delaware
  395 U.S. 213Decided June 2, 19695–3Earl Warren
• Harris v. New York
  401 U.S. 222Decided February 24, 19715–4Warren E. Burger
• Harrison v. United States
  392 U.S. 219Decided June 10, 19686–3Potter Stewart
• Gardner v. Broderick
  392 U.S. 273Decided June 10, 19689–0Abe Fortas
• Uniformed Sanitation Men Assn., Inc. v. Commissioner of Sanitation of the City of New York
  392 U.S. 280Decided June 10, 19689–0Abe Fortas

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Debacker v. Brainard
  396 U.S. 28Decided November 12, 19696–2Per curiam
• Minor v. United States
  396 U.S. 87Decided December 8, 19696–2Byron R. White
• Morales v. New York
  396 U.S. 102Decided December 8, 19697–1Per curiam
• Molinaro v. New Jersey
  396 U.S. 365Decided January 19, 19708–0Per curiam
• Sigler v. Parker
  396 U.S. 482Decided January 26, 19707–1Per curiam
• Ross v. Bernhard
  396 U.S. 531Decided February 2, 19705–3Byron R. White

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