Bowers, Attorney General of Georgia v. Hardwick et al.

Decided June 30, 1986. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-140 · 478 U.S. 186 (1986) · Cited 953 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 5–4.

“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.

• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Powell v. Texas · 392 U.S. 514 (1968)
• Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists · 476 U.S. 747 (1986)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Conley v. Gibson · 355 U.S. 41 (1957)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)

Cited by

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

• Lawrence v. Texas · 539 U.S. 558 (2003)
• Obergefell v. Hodges · 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
• Romer v. Evans · 517 U.S. 620 (1996)
• Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. · 501 U.S. 560 (1991)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• Reno v. Flores · 507 U.S. 292 (1993)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Cruzan Ex Rel. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health · 497 U.S. 261 (1990)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Georgia v. Public Resource.Org, Inc. · 590 U.S. 255 (2020)
• Foucha v. Louisiana · 504 U.S. 71 (1992)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• Michael H. v. Gerald D. · 491 U.S. 110 (1989)
• Webster v. Doe · 486 U.S. 592 (1988)
• Osborne v. Ohio · 495 U.S. 103 (1990)

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).