Allen v. Wright et al.

Decided July 3, 1984. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-757 · 468 U.S. 737 (1984) · Cited 4,763 times

Holding

Respondents do not have standing to bring this suit.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–3.

“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.

• Norwood v. Harrison · 413 U.S. 455 (1973)
• Gilmore v. City of Montgomery · 417 U.S. 556 (1974)
• Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization · 426 U.S. 26 (1976)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Heckler v. Mathews · 465 U.S. 728 (1984)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• O'Shea v. Littleton · 414 U.S. 488 (1974)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood · 441 U.S. 91 (1979)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman · 455 U.S. 363 (1982)
• Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis · 407 U.S. 163 (1972)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War · 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
• Cooper v. Aaron · 358 U.S. 1 (1958)
• United States v. Richardson · 418 U.S. 166 (1974)
• Sierra Club v. Morton · 405 U.S. 727 (1972)
• Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. · 438 U.S. 59 (1978)
• United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP) · 412 U.S. 669 (1973)
• Laird v. Tatum · 408 U.S. 1 (1972)
• Barlow v. Collins · 397 U.S. 159 (1970)
• Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance · 409 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Tully v. Griffin, Inc. · 429 U.S. 68 (1976)
• Conley v. Gibson · 355 U.S. 41 (1957)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)

Cited by

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

• Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. · 551 U.S. 587 (2007)
• California v. Texas · 593 U.S. 659 (2021)
• FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine · 602 U.S. 367 (2024)
• Clinton v. City of New York · 524 U.S. 417 (1998)
• Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency · 549 U.S. 497 (2007)
• Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez · 577 U.S. 153 (2016)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
• Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. EPA · 606 U.S. 100 (2025)
• Thomas v. Union Carbide Agricultural Products Co. · 473 U.S. 568 (1985)
• Hollingsworth v. Perry · 570 U.S. 693 (2013)
• Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
• Raines v. Byrd · 521 U.S. 811 (1997)
• Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc. · 554 U.S. 269 (2008)
• Utah v. Evans · 536 U.S. 452 (2002)
• Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly · 550 U.S. 544 (2007)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• United States v. Hays · 515 U.S. 737 (1995)
• Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins · 578 U.S. 330 (2016)
• Bennett v. Spear · 520 U.S. 154 (1997)
• TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez · 594 U.S. 413 (2021)
• Renne v. Geary · 501 U.S. 312 (1991)
• Miller v. Albright · 523 U.S. 420 (1998)
• Salazar v. Buono · 559 U.S. 700 (2010)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Collins v. Yellen · 594 U.S. 220 (2021)
• Department of Education v. Brown · 600 U.S. 551 (2023)
• American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). 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).