Arizona v. California et al.

Decided March 30, 1983. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 8 ORIG · 460 U.S. 605 (1983) · Cited 1,909 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 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.

• Arizona v. California · 373 U.S. 546 (1963)
• Heckman v. United States · 224 U.S. 413 (1912)
• Winters v. United States · 207 U.S. 564 (1908)
• United States v. New Mexico · 438 U.S. 696 (1978)
• Cramer v. United States · 261 U.S. 219 (1923)
• Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
• Messenger v. Anderson · 225 U.S. 436 (1912)
• Shoshone Tribe of Indians v. United States · 299 U.S. 476 (1937)
• United States v. Creek Nation · 295 U.S. 103 (1935)
• Wyoming v. Colorado · 259 U.S. 419 (1922)
• Fuentes v. Shevin · 407 U.S. 67 (1972)
• Montana v. United States · 440 U.S. 147 (1979)
• Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. Moitie · 452 U.S. 394 (1981)
• Cromwell v. County of Sac · 94 U.S. 351 (1877)
• Maryland v. Louisiana · 451 U.S. 725 (1981)
• United States v. Swift & Co. · 286 U.S. 106 (1932)
• Shively v. Bowlby · 152 U.S. 1 (1894)
• Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Assn. · 443 U.S. 658 (1979)
• System Federation No. 91 v. Wright · 364 U.S. 642 (1961)
• United States v. California · 332 U.S. 19 (1947)
• United States v. Mississippi · 380 U.S. 128 (1965)
• United States v. California · 297 U.S. 175 (1936)
• United States v. United States Smelting Refining & Mining Co. · 339 U.S. 186 (1950)
• Cappaert v. United States · 426 U.S. 128 (1976)
• Borax Consolidated, Ltd. v. Los Angeles · 296 U.S. 10 (1935)
• Cragin v. Powell · 128 U.S. 691 (1888)
• United States v. Texas · 143 U.S. 621 (1892)
• United States v. Title Insurance & Trust Co. · 265 U.S. 472 (1924)
• United States v. Minnesota · 270 U.S. 181 (1926)
• Board of County Commissioners v. Seber · 318 U.S. 705 (1943)

Cited by

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

• Arizona v. California · 530 U.S. 392 (2000)
• Alabama v. North Carolina · 560 U.S. 330 (2010)
• Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp. · 486 U.S. 800 (1988)
• Musacchio v. United States · 577 U.S. 237 (2016)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt · 587 U.S. 230 (2019)
• Herrera v. Wyoming · 587 U.S. 329 (2019)
• Arizona v. Navajo Nation · 599 U.S. 555 (2023)
• Wyoming v. Oklahoma · 502 U.S. 437 (1992)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Countyof Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of NY · 470 U.S. 226 (1985)
• Nevada v. United States · 463 U.S. 110 (1983)
• Nebraska v. Wyoming · 507 U.S. 584 (1993)

Official text

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

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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).