California v. Federal Power Commission et al.

Decided April 30, 1962. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 187 · 369 U.S. 482 (1962) · Cited 212 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 5–2.

“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.

• United States v. Radio Corp. of America · 358 U.S. 334 (1959)
• United States v. Borden Co. · 308 U.S. 188 (1939)
• United States v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. · 353 U.S. 586 (1957)
• United States v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. · 366 U.S. 316 (1961)
• National Broadcasting Co. v. United States · 319 U.S. 190 (1943)
• McLean Trucking Co. v. United States · 321 U.S. 67 (1944)
• Federal Communications Commission v. RCA Communications, Inc. · 346 U.S. 86 (1953)
• Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Assn., Inc. v. United States · 362 U.S. 458 (1960)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Philadelphia National Bank · 374 U.S. 321 (1963)
• Ricci v. Chicago Mercantile Exchange · 409 U.S. 289 (1973)
• Federal Maritime Commission v. Seatrain Lines, Inc. · 411 U.S. 726 (1973)
• Gulf States Utilities Co. v. Federal Power Commission · 411 U.S. 747 (1973)
• Hughes Tool Co. v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 409 U.S. 363 (1973)
• United States v. National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. · 422 U.S. 694 (1975)
• Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar · 421 U.S. 773 (1975)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 559 (1965)
• City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co. · 435 U.S. 389 (1978)
• Silver v. New York Stock Exchange · 373 U.S. 341 (1963)
• Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States · 410 U.S. 366 (1973)
• United States v. El Paso Natural Gas Co. · 376 U.S. 651 (1964)
• Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. American Train Dispatchers' Ass'n · 499 U.S. 117 (1991)
• Cascade Natural Gas Corp. v. El Paso Natural Gas Co. · 386 U.S. 129 (1967)
• Pan American World Airways, Inc. v. United States · 371 U.S. 296 (1963)
• United States v. First City National Bank of Houston · 386 U.S. 361 (1967)

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).