Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency, et al. v. American Trucking Associations, Inc., et al.

Decided February 27, 2001. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-1257 · 531 U.S. 457 (2001) · Cited 1,439 times

Holding

Because the claim-preclusive effect of a federal court’s dismissal “upon the merits” of a diversity action on state statute-of-limitations grounds is governed by a federal rule, which in turn (in diversity cases) incorporates the claim-preclusion law that would be applied by state courts in the State in which the federal court sits, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals erred in holding that the California federal court’s dismissal “upon the merits” necessarily precluded the Maryland statecourt action.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Union Electric Co. v. Environmental Protection Agency · 427 U.S. 246 (1976)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Mistretta v. United States · 488 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Lichter v. United States · 334 U.S. 742 (1948)
• Loving v. United States · 517 U.S. 748 (1996)
• Touby v. United States · 500 U.S. 160 (1991)
• J. W. Hampton, Jr., & Co. v. United States · 276 U.S. 394 (1928)
• Fahey v. Mallonee · 332 U.S. 245 (1947)
• Industrial Union Dept., AFL-CIO v. American Petroleum Institute · 448 U.S. 607 (1980)
• Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey · 524 U.S. 206 (1998)
• Ohio Forestry Assn., Inc. v. Sierra Club · 523 U.S. 726 (1998)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation · 497 U.S. 871 (1990)
• Bennett v. Spear · 520 U.S. 154 (1997)
• Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
• Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
• Yakus v. United States · 321 U.S. 414 (1944)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States · 295 U.S. 495 (1935)
• Texas v. United States · 523 U.S. 296 (1998)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Aguirre-Aguirre · 526 U.S. 415 (1999)
• Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan · 293 U.S. 388 (1935)
• United States v. Mazurie · 419 U.S. 544 (1975)
• Jones v. United States · 527 U.S. 373 (1999)
• Morrison v. Olson · 487 U.S. 654 (1988)
• Bowsher v. Synar · 478 U.S. 714 (1986)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Standard Oil Co. · 449 U.S. 232 (1980)
• National Broadcasting Co. v. United States · 319 U.S. 190 (1943)
• Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad · 331 U.S. 519 (1947)
• American Power & Light Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 329 U.S. 90 (1946)

Cited by

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

• Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads · 575 U.S. 43 (2015)
• Gonzales v. Oregon · 546 U.S. 243 (2006)
• FCC v. Consumers' Research · 606 U.S. 656 (2025)
• Michigan v. Envtl. Prot. Agency · 576 U.S. 743 (2015)
• Entergy Corp. v. Riverkeeper, Inc. · 556 U.S. 208 (2009)
• West Virginia v. EPA · 597 U.S. 697 (2022)
• Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust · 579 U.S. 115 (2016)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Glenn · 554 U.S. 105 (2008)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 556 U.S. 502 (2009)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• King v. Burwell · 576 U.S. 473 (2015)
• Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons · 552 U.S. 214 (2008)
• Gundy v. United States · 588 U.S. 128 (2019)
• Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp. · 580 U.S. 451 (2017)
• Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian · 590 U.S. 1 (2020)
• Biden v. Nebraska · 600 U.S. 477 (2023)
• Financial Oversight and Management Bd. for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC · 590 U.S. 448 (2020)
• Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · 591 U.S. 197 (2020)
• Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis · 584 U.S. 497 (2018)
• Wellness Int'l Network, Ltd. v. Sharif · 575 U.S. 665 (2015)
• United States v. Stevens · 559 U.S. 460 (2010)
• Sessions v. Dimaya · 584 U.S. 148 (2018)
• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation v. Environmental Protection Agency · 540 U.S. 461 (2004)
• Patel v. Garland · 596 U.S. 328 (2022)
• Hall v. Hall · 584 U.S. 59 (2018)
• Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo · 603 U.S. 369 (2024)
• Federal Maritime Commission v. South Carolina State Ports Authority · 535 U.S. 743 (2002)
• Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. · 542 U.S. 241 (2004)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2001). 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).