McCarthy v. United States

394 U.S. 459 · Decided April 2, 1969 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

McCarthy v. United States was decided on April 2, 1969 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Plea bargaining” 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

Full case caption

McCarthy v. United States

SCDB identifiers: case 1968-072, docket 1968-072-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Plea bargaining”

• Boykin v. Alabama
  395 U.S. 238Decided June 2, 19696–2William O. Douglas
• Brady v. United States
  397 U.S. 742Decided May 4, 19708–0Byron R. White
• McMann v. Richardson
  397 U.S. 759Decided May 4, 19705–3Byron R. White
• Parker v. North Carolina
  397 U.S. 790Decided May 4, 19705–3Byron R. White
• North Carolina v. Alford
  400 U.S. 25Decided November 23, 19706–3Byron R. White
• Santobello v. New York
  404 U.S. 257Decided December 20, 19714–3Warren E. Burger

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

• Gregg v. United States
  394 U.S. 489Decided April 2, 19699–0Byron R. White
• Halliday v. United States
  394 U.S. 831Decided May 5, 19697–2Per curiam
• Will, U.S. District Judge v. United States
  389 U.S. 90Decided November 13, 19678–0Earl Warren
• Collier v. United States
  384 U.S. 59Decided April 19, 19669–0Per curiam
• Harris v. United StatesAltered precedent
  382 U.S. 162Decided December 6, 19655–4William O. Douglas
• Davis v. United States
  411 U.S. 233Decided April 17, 19736–3William H. Rehnquist

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• McConnell v. Rhay
  393 U.S. 2Decided October 14, 19689–0Per curiam
• Arsenault v. Massachusetts
  393 U.S. 5Decided October 14, 19689–0Per curiam
• International Terminal Operating Co., Inc. v. Nv Nederl. Amerik Stoomv Maats
  393 U.S. 74Decided October 21, 19689–0Per curiam
• Fuller v. Alaska
  393 U.S. 80Decided October 28, 19687–2Per curiam
• Smith v. Yeager
  393 U.S. 122Decided November 12, 19688–1Per curiam
• Recznik v. City of Lorain
  393 U.S. 166Decided November 18, 19685–4Per curiam

See all

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