Aetna Life Insurance Co. v. Lavoie et al.

Decided April 22, 1986. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-1601 · 475 U.S. 813 (1986) · Cited 705 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Tumey v. Ohio · 273 U.S. 510 (1927)
• Ward v. Village of Monroeville · 409 U.S. 57 (1972)
• In Re Murchison. · 349 U.S. 133 (1955)
• Gibson v. Berryhill · 411 U.S. 564 (1973)
• Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v. Continental Casualty Co. · 393 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co. · 263 U.S. 413 (1924)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Patterson v. New York · 432 U.S. 197 (1977)
• County Court of Ulster Cty. v. Allen · 442 U.S. 140 (1979)
• Berger v. United States · 255 U.S. 22 (1921)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Cement Institute · 333 U.S. 683 (1948)
• Marshall v. Jerrico, Inc. · 446 U.S. 238 (1980)
• United States v. Will · 449 U.S. 200 (1980)
• Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia Steamship Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration · 113 U.S. 33 (1885)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., Inc. · 556 U.S. 868 (2009)
• Williams v. Pennsylvania · 579 U.S. 1 (2016)
• Republican Party of Minnesota v. White · 536 U.S. 765 (2002)
• Liljeberg v. Health Services Acquisition Corp. · 486 U.S. 847 (1988)
• Bracy v. Gramley · 520 U.S. 899 (1997)
• Rippo v. Baker · 580 U.S. 285 (2017)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Sun Oil Co. v. Wortman · 486 U.S. 717 (1988)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).