Badgerow v. Walters

Decided March 31, 2022. Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 20-1143 · 596 U.S. 1 (2022) · Cited 280 times

Holding

Federal jurisdiction in a petition to compel arbitration under Section 4 of the Federal Arbitration Act is determined by “looking through” the petition to the jurisdictional basis of the “underlying substantive controversy,” Vaden v. Discover Bank, 556 U. S. 49, 62, but that approach does not apply to petitions to confirm or vacate arbitral awards under Sections 9 and 10 of the FAA.

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 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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.

• Vaden v. Discover Bank · 556 U.S. 49 (2009)
• Hall Street Associates, L. L. C. v. Mattel, Inc. · 552 U.S. 576 (2008)
• Pierce v. Underwood · 487 U.S. 552 (1988)
• Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America · 511 U.S. 375 (1994)
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Construction Corp. · 460 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Allied-Bruce Terminix Cos., Inc. v. Dobson · 513 U.S. 265 (1995)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc. · 545 U.S. 546 (2005)
• Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc. v. Bill Harbert Construction Co. · 529 U.S. 193 (2000)
• Bailey v. United States · 516 U.S. 137 (1995)
• Hertz Corp. v. Friend · 559 U.S. 77 (2010)
• Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. v. Byrd · 470 U.S. 213 (1985)
• Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas · 495 U.S. 149 (1990)
• Gunn v. Minton · 568 U.S. 251 (2013)
• Southland Corp. v. Keating · 465 U.S. 1 (1984)
• Welch v. United States · 578 U.S. 120 (2016)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Welch v. Texas Department of Highways & Public Transportation · 483 U.S. 468 (1987)
• Directv, Inc. v. Imburgia · 577 U.S. 47 (2015)

Cited by

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

• Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. · 604 U.S. 305 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Elena Kagan’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2022). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).