Christine Armour, et al., Petitioners v. City of Indianapolis, Indiana, et al.

Decided June 4, 2012. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-161 · 566 U.S. 673 (2012) · Cited 252 times

Holding

The City had a rational basis for its distinction and thus did not violate the Equal Protection Clause.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

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.

• Allegheny Pittsburgh Coal Co. v. Commission of Webster Cty. · 488 U.S. 336 (1989)
• Heller v. Doe Ex Rel. Doe · 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
• Lehnhausen v. Lake Shore Auto Parts Co. · 410 U.S. 356 (1973)
• Nordlinger v. Hahn · 505 U.S. 1 (1992)
• Madden v. Kentucky Ex Rel. Commissioner · 309 U.S. 83 (1940)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• Carmichael v. Southern Coal & Coke Co. · 301 U.S. 495 (1937)
• Hooper v. Bernalillo County Assessor · 472 U.S. 612 (1985)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Beach Communications, Inc. · 508 U.S. 307 (1993)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Zobel v. Williams · 457 U.S. 55 (1982)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Ward · 470 U.S. 869 (1985)
• Williams v. Vermont · 472 U.S. 14 (1985)
• Fitzgerald v. Racing Assn. of Central Iowa · 539 U.S. 103 (2003)
• City of New Orleans v. Dukes · 427 U.S. 297 (1976)
• Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co. · 220 U.S. 61 (1911)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Allied Stores of Ohio, Inc. v. Bowers · 358 U.S. 522 (1959)
• Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fé Railway Co. v. Ellis · 165 U.S. 150 (1897)
• Township of Hillsborough v. Cromwell · 326 U.S. 620 (1946)
• Citizens' Telephone Co. of Grand Rapids v. Fuller · 229 U.S. 322 (1913)

Cited by

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

• Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. · 587 U.S. 490 (2019)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)

Official text

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

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). 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).