Bowen, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. v. Roy et al.

Decided June 11, 1986. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-780 · 476 U.S. 693 (1986) · Cited 399 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 8–1.

“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.

• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Hamilton v. Regents of the University of California · 293 U.S. 245 (1934)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Reynolds v. United States · 98 U.S. 145 (1879)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Townsend v. Sain · 372 U.S. 293 (1963)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts · 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners · 375 U.S. 411 (1964)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Kedroff v. Saint Nicholas Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America · 344 U.S. 94 (1952)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop · 440 U.S. 490 (1979)
• Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles · 331 U.S. 549 (1947)
• Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia Steamship Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration · 113 U.S. 33 (1885)
• Goldman v. Weinberger · 475 U.S. 503 (1986)
• Norwood v. Harrison · 413 U.S. 455 (1973)
• Follett v. Town of McCormick · 321 U.S. 573 (1944)
• Wiener v. United States · 357 U.S. 349 (1958)
• Coffman v. Breeze Corporations, Inc. · 323 U.S. 316 (1945)

Cited by

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

• Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn. · 485 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla. · 480 U.S. 136 (1987)
• Mahmoud v. Taylor · 606 U.S. 522 (2025)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Zivotofsky v. Kerry · 576 U.S. 1 (2015)
• Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Assn. · 544 U.S. 550 (2005)

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).