California et al. v. United States

Decided July 3, 1978. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-285 · 438 U.S. 645 (1978) · Cited 237 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.

• Ivanhoe Irrigation District v. McCracken · 357 U.S. 275 (1958)
• Arizona v. California · 373 U.S. 546 (1963)
• United States v. Gerlach Live Stock Co. · 339 U.S. 725 (1950)
• Dugan v. Rank · 372 U.S. 609 (1963)
• United States v. Rio Grande Dam & Irrigation Co. · 174 U.S. 690 (1899)
• California Oregon Power Co. v. Beaver Portland Cement Co. · 295 U.S. 142 (1935)
• Ickes v. Fox · 300 U.S. 82 (1937)
• Nebraska v. Wyoming · 325 U.S. 589 (1945)
• Broder v. Water Co. · 101 U.S. 274 (1879)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Shively v. Bowlby · 152 U.S. 1 (1894)
• Woods v. Interstate Realty Co. · 337 U.S. 535 (1949)
• United States v. Carmack · 329 U.S. 230 (1946)
• Perkins v. Matthews · 400 U.S. 379 (1971)
• Massachusetts v. United States · 333 U.S. 611 (1948)
• United States v. Title Insurance & Trust Co. · 265 U.S. 472 (1924)
• Brush v. Commissioner · 300 U.S. 352 (1937)
• Wyoming v. Colorado · 259 U.S. 419 (1922)

Cited by

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

• Texas v. New Mexico · 602 U.S. 943 (2024)
• California v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · 495 U.S. 490 (1990)
• National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife · 551 U.S. 644 (2007)
• Sporhase v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Douglas · 458 U.S. 941 (1982)
• Nevada v. United States · 463 U.S. 110 (1983)
• Orff v. United States · 545 U.S. 596 (2005)
• Bryant v. Yellen · 447 U.S. 352 (1980)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).