Anderson et al. v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., et al.

Decided June 25, 1986. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-1602 · 477 U.S. 242 (1986) · Cited 135,235 times

Holding

The Court of Appeals did not apply the correct standard in reviewing the District Court's grant of summary judgment.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• First Nat. Bank of Ariz. v. Cities Service Co. · 391 U.S. 253 (1968)
• Calder v. Jones · 465 U.S. 783 (1984)
• Dombrowski v. Eastland · 387 U.S. 82 (1967)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · 475 U.S. 574 (1986)
• Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. · 368 U.S. 464 (1962)
• Improvement Company v. Munson · 81 U.S. 442 (1872)
• Jackson v. Virginia · 443 U.S. 307 (1979)
• Anderson v. City of Bessemer City · 470 U.S. 564 (1985)
• Addington v. Texas · 441 U.S. 418 (1979)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
• United States v. Mechanik · 475 U.S. 66 (1986)
• Sartor v. Arkansas Natural Gas Corp. · 321 U.S. 620 (1944)
• Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board · 461 U.S. 731 (1983)
• Brady v. Southern Railway Co. · 320 U.S. 476 (1944)
• Pennsylvania Railroad v. Chamberlain · 288 U.S. 333 (1933)
• Kennedy v. Silas Mason Co. · 334 U.S. 249 (1948)
• Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, Administratrix of the Estate of Catrett · 477 U.S. 317 (1986)
• Monsanto Co. v. Spray-Rite Service Corp. · 465 U.S. 752 (1984)
• Hutchinson v. Proxmire · 443 U.S. 111 (1979)
• Wilkerson v. McCarthy · 336 U.S. 53 (1949)
• Pleasants v. Fant · 89 U.S. 116 (1875)
• Monsanto Co. v. Spray-Rite Service Corp. · 465 U.S. 752 (1984)
• Freeman v. Hewit · 329 U.S. 249 (1946)

Cited by

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

• Tolan v. Cotton · 572 U.S. 650 (2014)
• Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, Administratrix of the Estate of Catrett · 477 U.S. 317 (1986)
• Beard v. Banks · 548 U.S. 521 (2006)
• Schlup v. Delo · 513 U.S. 298 (1995)
• Hunt v. Cromartie · 526 U.S. 541 (1999)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Scott v. Harris · 550 U.S. 372 (2007)
• Biestek v. Berryhill · 587 U.S. 97 (2019)
• Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc. · 530 U.S. 133 (2000)
• Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services, Inc. · 504 U.S. 451 (1992)
• Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc. · 501 U.S. 496 (1991)
• Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo · 577 U.S. 442 (2016)
• Bucklew v. Precythe · 587 U.S. 119 (2019)
• Johnson v. Jones · 515 U.S. 304 (1995)
• Crawford-El v. Britton · 523 U.S. 574 (1998)
• Concrete Pipe & Products of Cal., Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern Cal. · 508 U.S. 602 (1993)
• McDermott International, Inc. v. Wilander · 498 U.S. 337 (1991)
• Wyoming v. Oklahoma · 502 U.S. 437 (1992)
• Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation · 497 U.S. 871 (1990)
• Spencer v. Kemna · 523 U.S. 1 (1998)
• McCleskey v. Zant · 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
• Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
• Sawyer v. Whitley · 505 U.S. 333 (1992)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds · 568 U.S. 455 (2013)
• Bragdon v. Abbott · 524 U.S. 624 (1998)
• Groh v. Ramirez · 540 U.S. 551 (2004)
• Reves v. Ernst & Young · 507 U.S. 170 (1993)
• Professional Real Estate Investors, Inc. v. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. · 508 U.S. 49 (1993)
• Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis · 515 U.S. 347 (1995)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).