California et al. v. Grace Brethren Church et al.

Decided June 18, 1982. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-31 · 457 U.S. 393 (1982) · Cited 522 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 7–2.

“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.

• Rosewell v. LaSalle National Bank · 450 U.S. 503 (1981)
• Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. v. Huffman · 319 U.S. 293 (1943)
• St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church v. South Dakota · 451 U.S. 772 (1981)
• Township of Hillsborough v. Cromwell · 326 U.S. 620 (1946)
• Fair Assessment in Real Estate Assn., Inc. v. McNary · 454 U.S. 100 (1981)
• Dows v. City of Chicago · 78 U.S. 108 (1871)
• United States v. Clark · 445 U.S. 23 (1980)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Perez v. Ledesma · 401 U.S. 82 (1971)
• Tully v. Griffin, Inc. · 429 U.S. 68 (1976)
• Boise Artesian Hot & Cold Water Co. v. Boise City · 213 U.S. 276 (1909)
• United States v. Darusmont · 449 U.S. 292 (1981)
• Fleming v. Rhodes · 331 U.S. 100 (1947)
• Singer Sewing MacHine Co. of NJ v. Benedict · 229 U.S. 481 (1913)

Cited by

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

• Hibbs v. Winn · 542 U.S. 88 (2004)
• Franchise Tax Board v. United States Postal Service · 467 U.S. 512 (1984)
• Arkansas v. Farm Credit Services of Central Arkansas · 520 U.S. 821 (1997)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• Biden v. Texas · 597 U.S. 785 (2022)
• National Private Truck Council, Inc. v. Oklahoma Tax Comm'n · 515 U.S. 582 (1995)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust for Southern Cal. · 463 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc. · 458 U.S. 564 (1982)
• Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. · 464 U.S. 238 (1984)
• McKesson Corp. v. Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Fla. Dept. of Business Regulation · 496 U.S. 18 (1990)
• Jefferson County v. Acker · 527 U.S. 423 (1999)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Alcan Aluminium Ltd. · 493 U.S. 331 (1990)
• Garland v. Gonzalez · 596 U.S. 543 (2022)

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).