Davis v. Passman

Decided June 5, 1979. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-5072 · 442 U.S. 228 (1979) · Cited 3,039 times

Holding

A cause of action and damages remedy can be implied directly under the Constitution when the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment is violated.

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 5–4.

“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)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Barbour · 421 U.S. 412 (1975)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Brown v. General Services Administration · 425 U.S. 820 (1976)
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. National Assn. of Railroad Passengers · 414 U.S. 453 (1974)
• Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong · 426 U.S. 88 (1976)
• Trainor v. Hernandez · 431 U.S. 434 (1977)
• Eastland v. United States Servicemen's Fund · 421 U.S. 491 (1975)
• Dombrowski v. Eastland · 387 U.S. 82 (1967)
• Texas & NOR Co. v. Brotherhood of Ry. & Steamship Clerks · 281 U.S. 548 (1930)
• Wheeldin v. Wheeler · 373 U.S. 647 (1963)
• Sinking-Fund Cases · 99 U.S. 700 (1879)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Burford v. Sun Oil Co. · 319 U.S. 315 (1943)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. · 438 U.S. 59 (1978)
• Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood · 441 U.S. 91 (1979)

Cited by

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

• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Wilkie v. Robbins · 551 U.S. 537 (2007)
• Carlson v. Green · 446 U.S. 14 (1980)
• Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools · 503 U.S. 60 (1992)
• United States v. Stanley · 483 U.S. 669 (1987)
• Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko · 534 U.S. 61 (2001)
• Bush v. Lucas · 462 U.S. 367 (1983)
• Egbert v. Boule · 596 U.S. 482 (2022)
• Hernández v. Mesa · 589 U.S. 93 (2020)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Schweiker v. Chilicky · 487 U.S. 412 (1988)
• Forrester v. White · 484 U.S. 219 (1988)
• Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis · 444 U.S. 11 (1979)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Federal Deposit Insurance v. Meyer · 510 U.S. 471 (1994)
• Hafer v. Melo · 502 U.S. 21 (1991)
• Verizon Maryland Inc. v. Public Service Commission of Maryland · 535 U.S. 635 (2002)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• United States v. Fausto · 484 U.S. 439 (1988)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• California v. Sierra Club · 451 U.S. 287 (1981)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Dennis v. Higgins · 498 U.S. 439 (1991)
• Hui v. Castaneda · 559 U.S. 799 (2010)
• Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co. · 554 U.S. 316 (2008)
• Goldey v. Fields · 606 U.S. 942 (2025)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1979). 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).