California et al. v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians et al.

Decided February 25, 1987. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-1708 · 480 U.S. 202 (1987) · Cited 645 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 6–3.

“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.

• Bryan v. Itasca County · 426 U.S. 373 (1976)
• New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe · 462 U.S. 324 (1983)
• Rice v. Rehner · 463 U.S. 713 (1983)
• Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation · 447 U.S. 134 (1980)
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
• White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker · 448 U.S. 136 (1980)
• Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe of Indians · 471 U.S. 759 (1985)
• United States v. Mazurie · 419 U.S. 544 (1975)
• Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation · 425 U.S. 463 (1976)
• Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones · 411 U.S. 145 (1973)
• DeCoteau v. District County Court for the Tenth Judicial District · 420 U.S. 425 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas · 596 U.S. 685 (2022)
• County of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation · 502 U.S. 251 (1992)
• Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community · 572 U.S. 782 (2014)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla. · 498 U.S. 505 (1991)
• Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Assn., Inc. v. United States · 527 U.S. 173 (1999)
• Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico · 490 U.S. 163 (1989)
• City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of NY · 544 U.S. 197 (2005)
• Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Chickasaw Nation · 515 U.S. 450 (1995)
• Inyo County, California v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony · 538 U.S. 701 (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).