Brad Bennett, et al. v. Michael Spear, et al.

Decided March 19, 1997. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-813 · 520 U.S. 154 (1997) · Cited 3,786 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.

• Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp · 397 U.S. 150 (1970)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation · 497 U.S. 871 (1990)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• Franklin v. Massachusetts · 505 U.S. 788 (1992)
• Dalton v. Specter · 511 U.S. 462 (1994)
• Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance · 409 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp. · 318 U.S. 80 (1943)
• Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization · 426 U.S. 26 (1976)
• Associated General Contractors of California, Inc. v. California State Council of Carpenters · 459 U.S. 519 (1983)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• United States v. Menasche · 348 U.S. 528 (1955)
• Clarke v. Securities Industry Assn. · 479 U.S. 388 (1987)
• Barrows v. Jackson · 346 U.S. 249 (1953)
• Barlow v. Collins · 397 U.S. 159 (1970)
• Block v. Community Nutrition Institute · 467 U.S. 340 (1984)
• Chicago & Southern Air Lines, Inc. v. Waterman Steamship Corp. · 333 U.S. 103 (1948)
• Ponte v. Real · 471 U.S. 491 (1985)
• Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter, Communities for Great Ore. · 515 U.S. 687 (1995)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Epstein · 516 U.S. 367 (1996)
• Montclair v. Ramsdell · 107 U.S. 147 (1883)
• Dennis v. Higgins · 498 U.S. 439 (1991)
• Port of Boston Marine Terminal Assn. v. Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic · 400 U.S. 62 (1970)
• Boston Stock Exchange v. State Tax Commission · 429 U.S. 318 (1977)
• Air Courier Conference of America v. American Postal Workers Union · 498 U.S. 517 (1991)

Cited by

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

• U.S. Army Corps of Eng'rs v. Hawkes Co. · 578 U.S. 590 (2016)
• National Credit Union Administration v. First National Bank & Trust Co. · 522 U.S. 479 (1998)
• Weyerhaeuser Co. v. United States Fish and Wildlife Serv. · 586 U.S. 9 (2018)
• Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
• Biden v. Texas · 597 U.S. 785 (2022)
• Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency · 566 U.S. 120 (2012)
• Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads · 575 U.S. 43 (2015)
• Utah v. Evans · 536 U.S. 452 (2002)
• Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht · 587 U.S. 299 (2019)
• Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms · 561 U.S. 139 (2010)
• Department of Commerce v. New York · 588 U.S. 752 (2019)
• Smith v. Berryhill · 587 U.S. 471 (2019)
• Bank of Am. Corp. v. City of Miami · 581 U.S. 189 (2017)
• Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. EPA · 606 U.S. 100 (2025)
• FDA v. R. J. Reynolds Vapor Co. · 606 U.S. 226 (2025)
• United States Fish and Wildlife Serv. v. Sierra Club, Inc. · 592 U.S. 261 (2021)
• Raines v. Byrd · 521 U.S. 811 (1997)
• Federal Election Commission v. Akins · 524 U.S. 11 (1998)
• Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors · 603 U.S. 799 (2024)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation v. Environmental Protection Agency · 540 U.S. 461 (2004)
• Alabama v. North Carolina · 560 U.S. 330 (2010)
• FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine · 602 U.S. 367 (2024)
• Johnson v. Guzman Chavez · 594 U.S. 523 (2021)
• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
• California v. Texas · 593 U.S. 659 (2021)
• Salinas v. Railroad Retirement Bd. · 592 U.S. 188 (2021)

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).