Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury

Decided March 28, 1989. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1020 · 489 U.S. 803 (1989) · Cited 1,222 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 8–1.

“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.

• Phillips Chemical Co. v. Dumas Independent School District · 361 U.S. 376 (1960)
• Graves v. New York Ex Rel. O'Keefe · 306 U.S. 466 (1939)
• United States v. County of Fresno · 429 U.S. 452 (1977)
• Memphis Bank & Trust Co. v. Garner · 459 U.S. 392 (1983)
• Dobbins v. Commissioners of Erie County · 41 U.S. 435 (1842)
• Helvering v. Gerhardt · 304 U.S. 405 (1938)
• South Carolina v. Baker · 485 U.S. 505 (1988)
• United States v. City of Detroit · 355 U.S. 466 (1958)
• City of Detroit v. Murray Corp. of America · 355 U.S. 489 (1958)
• Morissette v. United States · 342 U.S. 246 (1952)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• Midlantic National Bank v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection · 474 U.S. 494 (1986)
• Allied Stores of Ohio, Inc. v. Bowers · 358 U.S. 522 (1959)
• United States v. Morton · 467 U.S. 822 (1984)
• Heckler v. Mathews · 465 U.S. 728 (1984)
• United Air Lines, Inc. v. McMann · 434 U.S. 192 (1977)
• Iowa-Des Moines National Bank v. Bennett · 284 U.S. 239 (1932)
• Louis K. Liggett Co. v. Lee · 288 U.S. 517 (1933)

Cited by

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

• Harper v. Virginia Department of Taxation · 509 U.S. 86 (1993)
• Dawson v. Steager · 586 U.S. 171 (2019)
• Jefferson County v. Acker · 527 U.S. 423 (1999)
• Department of Revenue of Ore. v. ACF Industries, Inc. · 510 U.S. 332 (1994)
• Home Depot U. S. A., Inc. v. Jackson · 587 U.S. 435 (2019)
• National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife · 551 U.S. 644 (2007)
• Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. · 554 U.S. 33 (2008)
• Lockhart v. United States · 577 U.S. 347 (2016)
• Intel Corp. Investment Policy Comm. v. Sulyma · 589 U.S. 178 (2020)
• Reich v. Collins · 513 U.S. 106 (1994)
• Republic of Sudan v. Harrison · 587 U.S. 1 (2019)
• Mont v. United States · 587 U.S. 514 (2019)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 495 U.S. 33 (1990)
• United States v. Miller · 604 U.S. 518 (2025)
• Stanley v. City of Sanford · 606 U.S. 46 (2025)
• Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
• Patterson v. Shumate · 504 U.S. 753 (1992)
• Kucana v. Holder · 558 U.S. 233 (2010)
• Tyler v. Cain · 533 U.S. 656 (2001)
• James B. Beam Distilling Co. v. Georgia · 501 U.S. 529 (1991)
• Deal v. United States · 508 U.S. 129 (1993)
• McKesson Corp. v. Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Fla. Dept. of Business Regulation · 496 U.S. 18 (1990)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin · 532 U.S. 661 (2001)
• Dennis v. Higgins · 498 U.S. 439 (1991)
• Graham County Soil & Water Conservation District v. United States Ex Rel. Wilson · 559 U.S. 280 (2010)
• Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting · 563 U.S. 582 (2011)
• Doe v. Chao · 540 U.S. 614 (2004)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio v. Betts · 492 U.S. 158 (1989)

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).