Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority et al.

Decided February 19, 1985. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-1913 · 469 U.S. 528 (1985) · Cited 1,304 times

Holding

In affording SAMTA employees the protection of the wage and hour provisions of the FLSA, Congress contravened no affirmative limit on its power under the Commerce Clause.

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 5–4.

“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.

• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming · 460 U.S. 226 (1983)
• Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc. · 452 U.S. 264 (1981)
• United Transportation Union v. Long Island Rail Road · 455 U.S. 678 (1982)
• Maryland v. Wirtz · 392 U.S. 183 (1968)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)
• New York v. United States · 326 U.S. 572 (1946)
• Fry v. United States · 421 U.S. 542 (1975)
• Helvering v. Powers · 293 U.S. 214 (1934)
• United States v. Darby · 312 U.S. 100 (1941)
• Lane County v. Oregon · 74 U.S. 71 (1869)
• Massachusetts v. United States · 435 U.S. 444 (1978)
• Ohio v. Helvering · 292 U.S. 360 (1934)
• Jackson Transit Authority v. Local Division 1285, Amalgamated Transit Union · 457 U.S. 15 (1982)
• Brush v. Commissioner · 300 U.S. 352 (1937)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• Wickard v. Filburn · 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
• Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States · 379 U.S. 241 (1964)
• New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann · 285 U.S. 262 (1932)
• Helvering v. Gerhardt · 304 U.S. 405 (1938)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Oregon v. Kennedy · 456 U.S. 667 (1982)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• United States v. Scott · 437 U.S. 82 (1978)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Indian Towing Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 61 (1955)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)

Cited by

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

• South Carolina v. Baker · 485 U.S. 505 (1988)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• Gregory v. Ashcroft · 501 U.S. 452 (1991)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis · 553 U.S. 328 (2008)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton · 514 U.S. 779 (1995)
• Gonzales v. Raich · 545 U.S. 1 (2005)
• United Haulers Ass'n v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority · 550 U.S. 330 (2007)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• Wyeth v. Levine · 555 U.S. 555 (2009)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services · 492 U.S. 490 (1989)
• Chiafalo v. Washington · 591 U.S. 578 (2020)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• United States v. Lopez · 514 U.S. 549 (1995)
• Auer v. Robbins · 519 U.S. 452 (1997)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• Allied-Signal, Inc. Ex Rel. Bendix Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation · 504 U.S. 768 (1992)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Green v. Mansour · 474 U.S. 64 (1985)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).