Billy Joe Reynolds v. United States
565 U.S. 432 · Decided January 23, 2012 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Billy Joe Reynolds v. United States was decided on January 23, 2012 by a vote of 7–2. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Statutory construction of criminal laws, miscellaneous” in the Criminal Procedure area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 565 U.S. 432 · 132 S. Ct. 975 · 181 L. Ed. 2d 935 · 2012 U.S. LEXIS 911
- Docket number
- 10-6549
- Decided
- January 23, 2012
- Argued
- October 3, 2011
- Court era
- Roberts Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority opinion
- Stephen G. Breyer
- Opinion assigned by
- John G. Roberts Jr.
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- 18-2250
- Type of law
- Infrequently litigated statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Majority | |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Majority | |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Dissent | |
| Justice Stephen G. Breyer | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Sonia Sotomayor | Majority | |
| Justice Elena Kagan | Majority |
Full case caption
Billy Joe Reynolds, Petitioner v. United States
SCDB identifiers: case 2011-017, docket 2011-017-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Statutory construction of criminal laws, miscellaneous”
- Thomas Carr v. United States
- United States v. Apel
- Deondery Chambers v. United States
- Elonis v. United States
- Larry Begay v. United States
- Nichols v. United States
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- Javier Cavazos v. Shirley Ree Smith
- David Bobby v. Archie Dixon
- Eric Greene v. Jon Fisher
- Marcus Hardy v. Irving L. Cross
- Margaret Minneci v. Richard Lee Pollard
- Juan Smith v. Burl Cain
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