Frontiero et Vir v. Richardson, Secretary of Defense, et al.

Decided May 14, 1973. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-1694 · 411 U.S. 677 (1973) · Cited 1,487 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

“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.

• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. · 406 U.S. 164 (1972)
• Stanley v. Illinois · 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
• South Carolina v. Katzenbach · 383 U.S. 301 (1966)
• Hirabayashi v. United States · 320 U.S. 81 (1943)
• Korematsu v. United States · 323 U.S. 214 (1945)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Levy v. Louisiana Ex Rel. Charity Hospital · 391 U.S. 68 (1968)
• Richardson v. Belcher · 404 U.S. 78 (1971)
• Jefferson v. Hackney · 406 U.S. 535 (1972)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Oyama v. California · 332 U.S. 633 (1948)
• Schneider v. Rusk · 377 U.S. 163 (1964)
• Bradwell v. State · 83 U.S. 130 (1873)
• Gaston County v. United States · 395 U.S. 285 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• Schlesinger v. Ballard · 419 U.S. 498 (1975)
• Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld · 420 U.S. 636 (1975)
• Kahn v. Shevin · 416 U.S. 351 (1974)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Sessions v. Morales-Santana · 582 U.S. 47 (2017)
• Geduldig v. Aiello · 417 U.S. 484 (1974)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Mathews v. Lucas · 427 U.S. 495 (1976)
• United States v. Skrmetti · 605 U.S. 495 (2025)
• JEB v. Alabama Ex Rel. TB · 511 U.S. 127 (1994)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan · 458 U.S. 718 (1982)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• Obergefell v. Hodges · 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
• Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 462 U.S. 669 (1983)
• Parham v. Hughes · 441 U.S. 347 (1979)
• Califano v. Westcott · 443 U.S. 76 (1979)
• Tuan Anh Nguyen v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 533 U.S. 53 (2001)
• KIRCHBERG v. FEENSTRA Et Al. · 450 U.S. 455 (1981)
• Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. · 591 U.S. 610 (2020)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic · 506 U.S. 263 (1993)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Schweiker v. Wilson · 450 U.S. 221 (1981)

Official text

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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).