Bell, Secretary of Education v. New Jersey et al.

Decided May 31, 1983. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-2125 · 461 U.S. 773 (1983) · Cited 299 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 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.

• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Hallowell v. Commons · 239 U.S. 506 (1916)
• Port of Boston Marine Terminal Assn. v. Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic · 400 U.S. 62 (1970)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Bradley v. School Bd. of Richmond · 416 U.S. 696 (1974)
• Rosado v. Wyman · 397 U.S. 397 (1970)
• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Standard Oil Co. · 449 U.S. 232 (1980)
• Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp. · 453 U.S. 473 (1981)
• City of Milwaukee v. Illinois · 451 U.S. 304 (1981)
• Oklahoma v. United States Civil Service Commission · 330 U.S. 127 (1947)
• United States v. Wurts · 303 U.S. 414 (1938)
• Federal Power Commission v. Metropolitan Edison Co. · 304 U.S. 375 (1938)
• Quern v. Mandley · 436 U.S. 725 (1978)

Cited by

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

• Bennett v. Kentucky Department of Education · 470 U.S. 656 (1985)
• Bennett v. New Jersey · 470 U.S. 632 (1985)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy · 548 U.S. 291 (2006)
• United States v. Boyle · 469 U.S. 241 (1985)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor · 478 U.S. 833 (1986)
• Gozlon-Peretz v. United States · 498 U.S. 395 (1991)
• United States v. Texas · 507 U.S. 529 (1993)
• Secretary of the Interior v. California · 464 U.S. 312 (1984)
• Sackett v. EPA · 598 U.S. 651 (2023)

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).