Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. John Cardegna et al.
Decided February 21, 2006. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 04-1264 · 546 U.S. 440 (2006) · Cited 1,641 times
Holding
Regardless of whether it is brought in federal or state court, a challenge to the validity of a contract as a whole, and not specifically to the arbitration clause within it, must go to the arbitrator, not the court.
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 7–1.
Majority · 7
- Antonin Scalia · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- David Hackett Souter
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- John Paul Stevens
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 1
- Clarence Thomas · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin Mfg. Co. · 388 U.S. 395 (1967)
- Southland Corp. v. Keating · 465 U.S. 1 (1984)
- Allied-Bruce Terminix Cos., Inc. v. Dobson · 513 U.S. 265 (1995)
- Doctor's Associates, Inc. v. Casarotto · 517 U.S. 681 (1996)
- Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle · 539 U.S. 444 (2003)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Preston v. Ferrer · 552 U.S. 346 (2008)
- Nitro-Lift Technologies, L. L. C. v. Howard · 568 U.S. 17 (2012)
- Hall Street Associates, L. L. C. v. Mattel, Inc. · 552 U.S. 576 (2008)
- Coinbase v. Suski · 602 U.S. 143 (2024)
- Kindred Nursing Centers, L. P. v. Clark · 581 U.S. 246 (2017)
- Vaden v. Discover Bank · 556 U.S. 49 (2009)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2006). 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).