Rubin v. United States
449 U.S. 424 · No. 79-1013 · 1980 term · Burger Court
Decided Jan 21, 1981 · argued Nov 12, 1980
Criminal procedure · Statutory construction of criminal laws: false statements
Majority opinion: Warren Burger
The voteMajority
9–09 in the majority, 0 in dissent
No dissent (9–0)
Affirmed. Rubin lost.
What this ruling means
Affirmed: the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, so it stands (sometimes with changes the Court made to it).
Rubin was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Lost” means the Court did not give that side the result it asked for.
From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.
Summary
The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.
Wikipedia has no article on this case, so there is no summary.
Data notes
The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.
How the justices voted
Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 1980 term. Filled: the 9 in the majority. Hollow: the 0 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.
Majority(9)
Warren BurgerWrote the majority opinion
Harry BlackmunWrote a concurrence
Thurgood MarshallJoined the majority
William BrennanJoined the majority
John StevensJoined the majority
Byron WhiteJoined the majority
Potter StewartJoined the majority
Lewis PowellJoined the majority
William RehnquistJoined the majority
Dissent(0)
- None.
Data notes
Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.
Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.
The parties
Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.
- Petitioner
- RubinPerson accused, indicted, or suspected of crime
- Respondent
- United StatesUnited States
- Reached the Court by
- Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
Data notes
The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.
The law at issue
The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.
- Provision
- Securities Act of 1933, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, or the Williams Act
- Kind of law
- Federal Statute
- Decided by
- Judicial review (state level)
Data notes
The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.
Timeline
What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.
- Jan 21, 1981DecidedDecided · Decided 9–0: affirmed. Rubin lost.
- Nov 12, 1980ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
- Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari).
- Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit: affirmed, with a dissent.
- Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the New York Southern U.S. District Court.
Data notes
From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.
Other decisions on the same issue
9 other argued cases since 1946 on statutory construction of criminal laws: false statements, newest first.
- Abramski v. United States573 U.S. 169Jun 16, 2014 · 573 U.S. 169Criminal procedure5–45–4 band
- James Brogan v. United States522 U.S. 398Jan 26, 1998 · 522 U.S. 398Criminal procedure7–27–2 band
- United States v. Jerry E. Wells and Kenneth R. Steele519 U.S. 482Feb 26, 1997 · 519 U.S. 482Criminal procedure8–18–1 band
- John Bruce Hubbard v. United States514 U.S. 695May 15, 1995 · 514 U.S. 695Criminal procedure6–36–3 band
- United States v. Yermian468 U.S. 63Jun 27, 1984 · 468 U.S. 63Criminal procedure5–45–4 band
- United States v. Rodgers466 U.S. 475Apr 30, 1984 · 466 U.S. 475Criminal procedure9–0Unanimous band
- United States v. Hvass355 U.S. 570Mar 3, 1958 · 355 U.S. 570Criminal procedure8–18–1 band
- United States v. Bramblett348 U.S. 503Apr 4, 1955 · 348 U.S. 503Criminal procedure6–0Unanimous band
- United States v. Grainger346 U.S. 235Jun 15, 1953 · 346 U.S. 235Criminal procedure5–36–3 band
Data notes
Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.
Official record
Read the full opinion on Justia and the argument audio on Oyez. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.