Dennis Bates, et al. v. Dow Agrosciences Llc

Decided April 27, 2005. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-388 · 544 U.S. 431 (2005) · Cited 550 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 7–2.

“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.

• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr · 518 U.S. 470 (1996)
• Ruckelshaus v. Monsanto Co. · 467 U.S. 986 (1984)
• Wisconsin Public Intervenor v. Mortier · 501 U.S. 597 (1991)
• Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)
• Hines v. Davidowitz · 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance · 514 U.S. 645 (1995)
• Hillsborough County v. Automated Medical Laboratories, Inc. · 471 U.S. 707 (1985)
• Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. · 464 U.S. 238 (1984)
• Gade v. National Solid Wastes Management Assn. · 505 U.S. 88 (1992)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Koons Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. v. Nigh · 543 U.S. 50 (2004)

Cited by

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

• Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. · 552 U.S. 312 (2008)
• Wyeth v. Levine · 555 U.S. 555 (2009)
• Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC · 562 U.S. 223 (2011)
• Altria Group, Inc. v. Good · 555 U.S. 70 (2008)
• Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela · 587 U.S. 176 (2019)
• Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
• Kansas v. Garcia · 589 U.S. 191 (2020)
• Arizona v. United States · 567 U.S. 387 (2012)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Dabit · 547 U.S. 71 (2006)
• Kurns v. Railroad Friction Products Corp. · 565 U.S. 625 (2012)

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).