United States v. Kordel

397 U.S. 1 · Decided February 24, 1970 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States v. Kordel was decided on February 24, 1970 unanimously (7–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Potter Stewart 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

Did not participate: Hugo L. Black.

Full case caption

United States v. Kordel et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1969-039, docket 1969-039-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Self-incrimination (general)”

• United States v. Knox
  396 U.S. 77Decided December 8, 19696–2John M. Harlan II
• Minor v. United States
  396 U.S. 87Decided December 8, 19696–2Byron R. White
• 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
• United States v. Knox
  396 U.S. 77Decided December 8, 19696–2John M. Harlan II
• 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

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