Bell, Attorney General, et al. v. Wolfish et al.

Decided May 14, 1979. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1829 · 441 U.S. 520 (1979) · Cited 11,438 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 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.

• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez · 372 U.S. 144 (1963)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Gerstein v. Pugh · 420 U.S. 103 (1975)
• Meachum v. Fano · 427 U.S. 215 (1976)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Stack v. Boyle · 342 U.S. 1 (1951)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Cruz v. Beto · 405 U.S. 319 (1972)
• Sosna v. Iowa · 419 U.S. 393 (1975)
• Taylor v. Kentucky · 436 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Wong Wing v. United States · 163 U.S. 228 (1896)
• Lanza v. New York · 370 U.S. 139 (1962)
• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• United States v. Lovett · 328 U.S. 303 (1946)
• Leis v. Flynt · 439 U.S. 438 (1979)
• Richardson v. Ramirez · 418 U.S. 24 (1974)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Paul v. Davis · 424 U.S. 693 (1976)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Rochin v. California · 342 U.S. 165 (1952)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)

Cited by

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

• Block v. Rutherford · 468 U.S. 576 (1984)
• Kingsley v. Hendrickson · 576 U.S. 389 (2015)
• Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington · 566 U.S. 318 (2012)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail · 502 U.S. 367 (1992)
• Schall v. Martin · 467 U.S. 253 (1984)
• Nelson v. Colorado · 581 U.S. 128 (2017)
• Rhodes v. Chapman · 452 U.S. 337 (1981)
• Thornburgh v. Abbott · 490 U.S. 401 (1989)
• Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton · 515 U.S. 646 (1995)
• Turner v. Safley · 482 U.S. 78 (1987)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Sandin v. Conner · 515 U.S. 472 (1995)
• Maryland v. King · 569 U.S. 435 (2013)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Youngberg v. Romeo Ex Rel. Romeo · 457 U.S. 307 (1982)
• O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz · 482 U.S. 342 (1987)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Whitley v. Albers · 475 U.S. 312 (1986)
• Baker v. McCollan · 443 U.S. 137 (1979)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Hughes v. Rowe · 449 U.S. 5 (1980)
• Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal & Correctional Complex · 442 U.S. 1 (1979)
• City of Revere v. Massachusetts General Hospital · 463 U.S. 239 (1983)
• United States v. Bailey · 444 U.S. 394 (1980)
• Baze v. Rees · 553 U.S. 35 (2008)
• Farmer v. Brennan · 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
• Graham v. Connor · 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
• Tennessee v. Garner · 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Hewitt v. Helms · 459 U.S. 460 (1983)

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).