Edward Dorsey, Sr. v. United States
567 U.S. 260 · Decided June 21, 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
Edward Dorsey, Sr. v. United States was decided on June 21, 2012 by a vote of 5–4. The Court vacated 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 “Retroactivity of new rights” in the Criminal Procedure area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 567 U.S. 260 · 132 S. Ct. 2321 · 183 L. Ed. 2d 281 · 2012 U.S. LEXIS 4664
- Docket number
- 11-5683
- Decided
- June 21, 2012
- Argued
- April 17, 2012
- Court era
- Roberts Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- Stephen G. Breyer
- Opinion assigned by
- Anthony M. Kennedy
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Retroactivity of new rights
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- 124 Stat 2377
- 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 | Dissent | |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Majority | |
| Justice Stephen G. Breyer | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. | Dissent | |
| Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. | Dissent | |
| Justice Sonia Sotomayor | Majority | |
| Justice Elena Kagan | Majority |
Full case caption
Edward Dorsey, Sr., Petitioner v. United States
SCDB identifiers: case 2011-071, docket 2011-071-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Retroactivity of new rights”
- Roselva Chaidez v. United States
- Montgomery v. Louisiana
- Welch v. United States
- Stephen Danforth v. Minnesota
- Glen Whorton v. Marvin Howard Bockting
- Dora B. Schriro v. Warren Wesley Summerlin
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