Elk Grove Unified School District and David W. Gordon, Superintendent v. Michael a. Newdow et al.

Decided June 14, 2004. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-1624 · 542 U.S. 1 (2004) · Cited 924 times

Holding

BLM’s alleged failures to act are not remediable under the APA.

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 8–0.

“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.

• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Ankenbrandt Ex Rel. L. R. v. Richards · 504 U.S. 689 (1992)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Palmore v. Sidoti · 466 U.S. 429 (1984)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Bowen v. Massachusetts · 487 U.S. 879 (1988)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District · 508 U.S. 384 (1993)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Singleton v. Wulff · 428 U.S. 106 (1976)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)

Cited by

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

• Town of Greece v. Galloway · 572 U.S. 565 (2014)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
• Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez · 549 U.S. 183 (2007)
• Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc. · 554 U.S. 269 (2008)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
• Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. · 551 U.S. 587 (2007)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Mahmoud v. Taylor · 606 U.S. 522 (2025)
• American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
• Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Comm'n. · 605 U.S. 238 (2025)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2004). 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).