Carey et al. v. Piphus et al.

Decided March 21, 1978. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1149 · 435 U.S. 247 (1978) · Cited 3,438 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.

• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Fuentes v. Shevin · 407 U.S. 67 (1972)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath · 341 U.S. 123 (1951)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Codd v. Velger · 429 U.S. 624 (1977)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Gagnon v. Scarpelli · 411 U.S. 778 (1973)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Mitchell v. W. T. Grant Co. · 416 U.S. 600 (1974)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)
• Smith v. Allwright · 321 U.S. 649 (1944)
• Sullivan v. Little Hunting Park, Inc. · 396 U.S. 229 (1969)
• Coleman v. Miller · 307 U.S. 433 (1939)
• Dixon v. Love · 431 U.S. 105 (1977)
• Nixon v. Herndon · 273 U.S. 536 (1927)
• Nixon v. Condon · 286 U.S. 73 (1932)
• Coe v. Armour Fertilizer Works · 237 U.S. 413 (1915)
• Giles v. Harris · 189 U.S. 475 (1903)
• Swafford v. Templeton · 185 U.S. 487 (1902)

Cited by

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

• Memphis Community School District v. Stachura · 477 U.S. 299 (1986)
• Farrar v. Hobby · 506 U.S. 103 (1992)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. City of New York · 590 U.S. 336 (2020)
• Robertson v. Wegmann · 436 U.S. 584 (1978)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Zinermon v. Burch · 494 U.S. 113 (1990)
• Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
• Hughes v. Rowe · 449 U.S. 5 (1980)
• Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins · 578 U.S. 330 (2016)
• City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc. · 453 U.S. 247 (1981)
• Manuel v. City of Joliet · 580 U.S. 357 (2017)
• Nelson v. Colorado · 581 U.S. 128 (2017)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• City of Riverside v. Rivera · 477 U.S. 561 (1986)
• City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd. · 526 U.S. 687 (1999)
• Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski · 592 U.S. 279 (2021)
• Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill · 470 U.S. 532 (1985)
• Allen v. McCurry · 449 U.S. 90 (1980)
• United States v. Raddatz · 447 U.S. 667 (1980)
• Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City · 473 U.S. 172 (1985)
• Edwards v. Balisok · 520 U.S. 641 (1997)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• Hartman v. Moore · 547 U.S. 250 (2006)
• Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales · 545 U.S. 748 (2005)
• Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools · 503 U.S. 60 (1992)
• Wyatt v. Cole · 504 U.S. 158 (1992)
• United States v. Burke · 504 U.S. 229 (1992)

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).