Bennett, Secretary of Education v. New Jersey

Decided March 19, 1985. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-2064 · 470 U.S. 632 (1985) · Cited 216 times

Holding

The substantive standards of the 1978 Amendments do not apply retroactively for determining if Title I funds were misused under previously made grants.

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 6–2.

“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.

• Bell v. New Jersey · 461 U.S. 773 (1983)
• Bradley v. School Bd. of Richmond · 416 U.S. 696 (1974)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• United States v. Security Industrial Bank · 459 U.S. 70 (1982)
• Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp. · 453 U.S. 473 (1981)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming · 460 U.S. 226 (1983)
• Greene v. United States · 376 U.S. 149 (1964)
• New York Telephone Co. v. New York State Department of Labor · 440 U.S. 519 (1979)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Franklin Mint Corp. · 466 U.S. 243 (1984)

Cited by

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

• Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. Bonjorno · 494 U.S. 827 (1990)
• Rivers v. Roadway Express, Inc. · 511 U.S. 298 (1994)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• Landreth Timber Co. v. Landreth · 471 U.S. 681 (1985)
• Jones v. United States · 529 U.S. 848 (2000)
• Republic National Bank of Miami v. United States · 506 U.S. 80 (1992)
• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).