Cynthia Waters, et al. v. Cheryl R. Churchill, et al.

Decided May 31, 1994. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 92-1450 · 511 U.S. 661 (1994) · Cited 1,041 times

Holding

The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded.

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

“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.

• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Burnup & Sims, Inc. · 379 U.S. 21 (1964)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• Rankin v. McPherson · 483 U.S. 378 (1987)
• Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc. · 501 U.S. 496 (1991)
• Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps · 475 U.S. 767 (1986)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Universal Camera Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 340 U.S. 474 (1951)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• Marks v. United States · 430 U.S. 188 (1977)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)

Cited by

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

• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• Heffernan v. City of Paterson · 578 U.S. 266 (2016)
• Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture · 553 U.S. 591 (2008)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
• Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri · 564 U.S. 379 (2011)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1994). 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).