Donovan, Secretary of Labor v. Dewey et al.

Decided June 17, 1981. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-901 · 452 U.S. 594 (1981) · Cited 688 times

Holding

The warrantless inspections required by 103(a) do not violate the Fourth Amendment but instead are reasonable within the meaning of the Amendment.

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 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.

• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. · 436 U.S. 307 (1978)
• United States v. Biswell · 406 U.S. 311 (1972)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Colonnade Catering Corp. v. United States · 397 U.S. 72 (1970)
• Frank v. Maryland · 359 U.S. 360 (1959)
• See v. City of Seattle · 387 U.S. 541 (1967)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• Steagald v. United States · 451 U.S. 204 (1981)
• Johnson v. United States · 333 U.S. 10 (1948)
• Almeida-Sanchez v. United States · 413 U.S. 266 (1973)
• Hester v. United States · 265 U.S. 57 (1924)
• G. M. Leasing Corp. v. United States · 429 U.S. 338 (1977)
• Florida Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services v. Florida Nursing Home Ass'n · 450 U.S. 147 (1981)

Cited by

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

• New York v. Burger · 482 U.S. 691 (1987)
• City of L. A. v. Patel · 576 U.S. 409 (2015)
• Illinois v. Krull · 480 U.S. 340 (1987)
• Dow Chemical Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Administrator · 476 U.S. 227 (1986)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn. · 489 U.S. 602 (1989)
• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• Griffin v. Wisconsin · 483 U.S. 868 (1987)
• Robbins v. California · 453 U.S. 420 (1981)
• Michigan v. Clifford · 464 U.S. 287 (1984)
• Whren v. United States · 517 U.S. 806 (1996)
• Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich · 510 U.S. 200 (1994)
• Thompson v. Louisiana · 469 U.S. 17 (1984)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1981). 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).