Kenneth O. Nichols v. United States
511 U.S. 738 · Decided June 6, 1994 · 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
Kenneth O. Nichols v. United States was decided on June 6, 1994 by a vote of 6–3. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Right to counsel” in the Criminal Procedure area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 511 U.S. 738 · 114 S. Ct. 1921 · 128 L. Ed. 2d 745 · 1994 U.S. LEXIS 4277
- Docket number
- 92-8556
- Decided
- June 6, 1994
- Argued
- January 10, 1994
- Court era
- Rehnquist Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority opinion
- William H. Rehnquist
- Opinion assigned by
- William H. Rehnquist
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Right to counsel
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Legal provision
- Sixth Amendment (right to counsel)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Altered precedent
- Yes — formally altered the Court's precedent
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Dissent | |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Majority | |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority | |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Majority | |
| Justice David H. Souter | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Majority | |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
Full case caption
Kenneth O. Nichols v. United States
SCDB identifiers: case 1993-061, docket 1993-061-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Right to counsel”
- A. L. Lockhart v. Bobby Ray Fretwell
- Paul McNeil v. Wisconsin
- Michigan v. Tyris Lemont Harvey
- Powell v. Texas
- United States v. Monsanto
- Caplin & Drysdale v. United States
Cases on the same legal provision: Sixth Amendment (right to counsel)
- McCoy v. Court of Appeals of Wisconsin
- Pennsylvania v. Finley
- Strickland v. Washington
- Rothgery v. Gillespie County
- Robert Wong v. Fernando Belmontes, Jr.
- Holloway v. Arkansas
Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)
- Jimmie Burden, Jr. v. Walter Zant
- Waldemar Ratzlaf and Loretta Ratzlaf v. United States
- Thomas Schiro v. Robert Farley
- Paul Caspari v. Christopher Bohlen
- Clarence Victor v. Nebraska
- United States v. Ralph Stuart Granderson, Jr.
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