Barbara Franklin, Secretary of Commerce, et al. v. Massachusetts et al.

Decided June 26, 1992. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-1502 · 505 U.S. 788 (1992) · Cited 868 times

Holding

The judgment is reversed.

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.

• Webster v. Doe · 486 U.S. 592 (1988)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer · 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
• Department of the Navy v. Egan · 484 U.S. 518 (1988)
• Japan Whaling Ass'n v. American Cetacean Society · 478 U.S. 221 (1986)
• Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assn. of United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co. · 463 U.S. 29 (1983)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Heckler v. Chaney · 470 U.S. 821 (1985)
• Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan · 293 U.S. 388 (1935)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians · 476 U.S. 667 (1986)
• Chicago & Southern Air Lines, Inc. v. Waterman Steamship Corp. · 333 U.S. 103 (1948)
• United States v. George S. Bush & Co. · 310 U.S. 371 (1940)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe · 401 U.S. 402 (1971)
• Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc. · 419 U.S. 281 (1974)
• Hagans v. Lavine · 415 U.S. 528 (1974)
• Burlington Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States · 371 U.S. 156 (1962)
• Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. · 438 U.S. 59 (1978)
• Block v. Community Nutrition Institute · 467 U.S. 340 (1984)
• Bowsher v. Synar · 478 U.S. 714 (1986)
• Gravel v. United States · 408 U.S. 606 (1972)
• Eastland v. United States Servicemen's Fund · 421 U.S. 491 (1975)
• Dombrowski v. Eastland · 387 U.S. 82 (1967)
• National Labor Relations Board v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 23 · 484 U.S. 112 (1987)
• Central Intelligence Agency v. Sims · 471 U.S. 159 (1985)

Cited by

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

• Dalton v. Specter · 511 U.S. 462 (1994)
• Utah v. Evans · 536 U.S. 452 (2002)
• Wisconsin v. City of New York · 517 U.S. 1 (1996)
• Trump v. New York · 592 U.S. 125 (2020)
• Department of Commerce v. New York · 588 U.S. 752 (2019)
• Bennett v. Spear · 520 U.S. 154 (1997)
• Clinton v. City of New York · 524 U.S. 417 (1998)
• United States v. Texas · 599 U.S. 670 (2023)
• Clinton v. Jones · 520 U.S. 681 (1997)
• Lincoln v. Vigil · 508 U.S. 182 (1993)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Department of Commerce v. United States House of Representatives · 525 U.S. 316 (1999)
• Biden v. Texas · 597 U.S. 785 (2022)
• Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
• Reed v. Goertz · 598 U.S. 230 (2023)
• Trump v. United States · 603 U.S. 593 (2024)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1992). 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).