--- title: "Sell v. United States" citation: "Sell v. United States, 539 U.S. 166 (2003)" authority_id: "AUTH-SCOTUS-SELL-539-US-166" authority_type: "case" jurisdiction: "federal_nationwide" precedential_status: "binding" official_url: "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USREPORTS-539/pdf/USREPORTS-539-166.pdf" url: "https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/authorities/AUTH-SCOTUS-SELL-539-US-166/" legal_review: "2026-08-25" links_checked: "2026-10-15" links_available: 1 links_checked_count: 1 license: "CC BY 4.0" --- # Sell v. United States ## Holding used Rare-case conditions for medication solely to restore trial competency, priority of alternative grounds, and collateral-order appealability. ## Material limitation The medical evidence, charged offense, likely sentence, confinement, dangerousness, alternatives, side effects, and circuit procedure control. ## Official source and pinpoints 539 U.S. 166, 175–83 (2003): ## Used in - [Competency, Insanity Procedure, and Speedy Trial](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/20-pretrial/competency-insanity-and-speedy-trial.md)