United States v. Thomas O. Robinson, Jr.

485 U.S. 25 · Decided February 24, 1988 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States v. Thomas O. Robinson, Jr. was decided on February 24, 1988 by a vote of 5–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist 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: Anthony M. Kennedy.

Full case caption

United States v. Thomas O. Robinson, Jr.

SCDB identifiers: case 1987-034, docket 1987-034-01.

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Other cases on “Self-incrimination (general)”

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  487 U.S. 99Decided June 22, 19885–4William H. Rehnquist
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  493 U.S. 549Decided February 20, 19907–2Sandra Day O'Connor
• Wainwright v. Greenfield
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Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (self-incrimination)

• Colorado v. Spring
  479 U.S. 564Decided January 27, 19877–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Moran v. Burbine
  475 U.S. 412Decided March 10, 19866–3Sandra Day O'Connor
• Robert S. Minnick v. Mississippi
  498 U.S. 146Decided December 3, 19906–2Anthony M. Kennedy
• Pillsbury Co. v. Conboy
  459 U.S. 248Decided January 11, 19837–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• United States v. Apfelbaum
  445 U.S. 115Decided March 3, 19809–0William H. Rehnquist
• New Jersey v. Portash
  440 U.S. 450Decided March 20, 19797–2Potter Stewart

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
• Frederick Mathews v. United States
  485 U.S. 58Decided February 24, 19886–2William H. Rehnquist

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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