Califano, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare v. Yamasaki et al.

Decided June 20, 1979. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1511 · 442 U.S. 682 (1979) · Cited 1,888 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 8–0.

“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.

• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 433 U.S. 406 (1977)
• Norton Ex Rel. Chiles v. Mathews · 427 U.S. 524 (1976)
• Califano v. Sanders · 430 U.S. 99 (1977)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
• Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
• Greene v. McElroy · 360 U.S. 474 (1959)
• Hecht Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 321 (1944)
• Mitchell v. W. T. Grant Co. · 416 U.S. 600 (1974)
• Porter v. Warner Holding Co. · 328 U.S. 395 (1946)
• New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer · 440 U.S. 568 (1979)
• Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 316 U.S. 4 (1942)
• Jimenez v. Weinberger · 417 U.S. 628 (1974)
• California Department of Human Resources Development v. Java · 402 U.S. 121 (1971)

Cited by

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

• Sullivan v. Everhart · 494 U.S. 83 (1990)
• Trump v. CASA, Inc. · 606 U.S. 831 (2025)
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes · 564 U.S. 338 (2011)
• General Telephone Co. of Southwest v. Falcon · 457 U.S. 147 (1982)
• Miller v. French · 530 U.S. 327 (2000)
• Comcast Corp. v. Behrend · 569 U.S. 27 (2013)
• American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant · 570 U.S. 228 (2013)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• United States v. Sanchez-Gomez · 584 U.S. 381 (2018)
• Garland v. Gonzalez · 596 U.S. 543 (2022)
• Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor · 521 U.S. 591 (1997)
• Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis · 584 U.S. 497 (2018)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Heckler v. Day · 467 U.S. 104 (1984)
• United States v. Clark · 445 U.S. 23 (1980)
• Department of Education v. Louisiana · 603 U.S. 866 (2024)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill · 470 U.S. 532 (1985)
• Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona · 520 U.S. 43 (1997)
• Heckler v. Ringer · 466 U.S. 602 (1984)
• Mennonite Board of Missions v. Adams · 462 U.S. 791 (1983)
• United States v. Mendoza · 464 U.S. 154 (1984)
• Marek v. Chesny · 473 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp. · 527 U.S. 815 (1999)
• Ellis v. Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employes · 466 U.S. 435 (1984)
• Thompson v. Oklahoma · 487 U.S. 815 (1988)
• Gutierrez De Martinez v. Lamagno · 515 U.S. 417 (1995)
• Mesa v. California · 489 U.S. 121 (1989)
• Schweiker v. McClure · 456 U.S. 188 (1982)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)

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).