Arizonans for Official English and Robert D. Park v. Arizona et al.

Decided March 3, 1997. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-974 · 520 U.S. 43 (1997) · Cited 2,323 times

Holding

Because the case was moot and should not have been retained for adjudication on the merits, the Court vacates the Ninth Circuit’s judgment and remands the case with directions that the action be dismissed by the District Court.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Diamond v. Charles · 476 U.S. 54 (1986)
• U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall Partnership · 513 U.S. 18 (1994)
• Virginia v. American Booksellers Assn., Inc. · 484 U.S. 383 (1988)
• Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles · 331 U.S. 549 (1947)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• United States v. Munsingwear, Inc. · 340 U.S. 36 (1950)
• Preiser v. Newkirk · 422 U.S. 395 (1975)
• Bellotti v. Baird · 428 U.S. 132 (1976)
• United States v. Corrick · 298 U.S. 435 (1936)
• Burke v. Barnes · 479 U.S. 361 (1987)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission · 432 U.S. 333 (1977)
• Hafer v. Melo · 502 U.S. 21 (1991)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• Sierra Club v. Morton · 405 U.S. 727 (1972)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas · 495 U.S. 149 (1990)
• Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Sosna v. Iowa · 419 U.S. 393 (1975)
• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty · 445 U.S. 388 (1980)
• Califano v. Yamasaki · 442 U.S. 682 (1979)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Juidice v. Vail · 430 U.S. 327 (1977)
• Golden v. Zwickler · 394 U.S. 103 (1969)
• Poe v. Ullman · 367 U.S. 497 (1961)
• Northeastern Florida Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America v. City of Jacksonville · 508 U.S. 656 (1993)
• Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc. · 472 U.S. 491 (1985)

Cited by

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

• Hollingsworth v. Perry · 570 U.S. 693 (2013)
• Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky · 585 U.S. 1 (2018)
• Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman · 581 U.S. 37 (2017)
• Davis v. Federal Election Commission · 554 U.S. 724 (2008)
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. · 528 U.S. 167 (2000)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. City of New York · 590 U.S. 336 (2020)
• Azar v. Garza · 584 U.S. 726 (2018)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
• Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk · 569 U.S. 66 (2013)
• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez · 577 U.S. 153 (2016)
• Knick v. Township of Scott · 588 U.S. 180 (2019)
• Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill · 587 U.S. 658 (2019)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Bush v. Gore · 531 U.S. 98 (2000)
• Animal Science Products, Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co. · 585 U.S. 33 (2018)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor · 521 U.S. 591 (1997)
• Ruhrgas Ag v. Marathon Oil Co. · 526 U.S. 574 (1999)
• DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
• Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. · 568 U.S. 85 (2013)
• Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales · 545 U.S. 748 (2005)
• Virginia v. Black · 538 U.S. 343 (2003)
• Shalala v. Illinois Council on Long Term Care, Inc. · 529 U.S. 1 (2000)
• Stenberg v. Carhart · 530 U.S. 914 (2000)
• Carney v. Adams · 592 U.S. 53 (2020)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Slater · 528 U.S. 216 (2000)
• United States v. Juvenile Male · 564 U.S. 261 (2011)
• West Virginia v. EPA · 597 U.S. 697 (2022)
• Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee · 594 U.S. 647 (2021)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). 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).