Felder v. Casey et al.

Decided June 22, 1988. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-526 · 487 U.S. 131 (1988) · Cited 1,126 times

Holding

Because the Wisconsin notice-of-claim statute conflicts in both its purpose and effects with 1983's remedial objectives, and because its enforcement in state-court actions will frequently and predictably produce different outcomes in 1983 litigation based solely on whether the claim is asserted in state or federal court, it is pre-empted pursuant to the Supremacy Clause when the 1983 action is brought in a state court.

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 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.

• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• Wilson v. Garcia · 471 U.S. 261 (1985)
• Burnett v. Grattan · 468 U.S. 42 (1984)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Martinez v. California · 444 U.S. 277 (1980)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)
• Brown v. Western R. Co. of Ala. · 338 U.S. 294 (1949)
• Garrett v. Moore-McCormack Co. · 317 U.S. 239 (1942)
• Puerto Rico Department of Consumer Affairs v. Isla Petroleum Corp. · 485 U.S. 495 (1988)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Stump v. Sparkman · 435 U.S. 349 (1978)
• Hines v. Davidowitz · 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• Davis v. Scherer · 468 U.S. 183 (1984)
• Guaranty Trust Co. v. York · 326 U.S. 99 (1945)
• United States v. Price · 383 U.S. 787 (1966)
• Perez. v. Campbell · 402 U.S. 637 (1971)
• Robertson v. Wegmann · 436 U.S. 584 (1978)
• Free v. Bland · 369 U.S. 663 (1962)
• Engel v. Davenport · 271 U.S. 33 (1926)
• Monessen Southwestern Railway Co. v. Morgan · 486 U.S. 330 (1988)
• McAllister v. Magnolia Petroleum Co. · 357 U.S. 221 (1958)
• Davis v. Wechsler · 263 U.S. 22 (1923)

Cited by

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

• Haywood v. Drown · 556 U.S. 729 (2009)
• Williams v. Reed · 604 U.S. 168 (2025)
• Howlett Ex Rel. Howlett v. Rose · 496 U.S. 356 (1990)
• Johnson v. Fankell · 520 U.S. 911 (1997)
• Owens v. Okure · 488 U.S. 235 (1989)
• Gade v. National Solid Wastes Management Assn. · 505 U.S. 88 (1992)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• Palazzolo v. Rhode Island · 533 U.S. 606 (2001)
• Golden State Transit Corp. v. City of Los Angeles · 493 U.S. 103 (1989)
• Hardin v. Straub · 490 U.S. 536 (1989)
• Raygor v. Regents of the University of Minnesota · 534 U.S. 533 (2002)
• National Private Truck Council, Inc. v. Oklahoma Tax Comm'n · 515 U.S. 582 (1995)

Official text

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

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

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). 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).