Garrison S. Johnson v. California et al.

Decided February 23, 2005. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-636 · 543 U.S. 499 (2005) · Cited 577 times

Holding

Strict scrutiny is the proper standard of review for an equal protection challenge to the CDC’s policy.

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 6–2.

“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.

• Turner v. Safley · 482 U.S. 78 (1987)
• Lee v. Washington · 390 U.S. 333 (1968)
• Washington v. Harper · 494 U.S. 210 (1990)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Grutter v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
• Thornburgh v. Abbott · 490 U.S. 401 (1989)
• Overton v. Bazzetta · 539 U.S. 126 (2003)
• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz · 482 U.S. 342 (1987)
• Farmer v. Brennan · 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Shaw v. Murphy · 532 U.S. 223 (2001)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council · 505 U.S. 1003 (1992)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Hudson v. McMillian · 503 U.S. 1 (1992)
• Hope v. Pelzer · 536 U.S. 730 (2002)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Powers v. Ohio · 499 U.S. 400 (1991)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Booth v. Churner · 532 U.S. 731 (2001)
• Cruz v. Beto · 405 U.S. 319 (1972)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Price v. Johnston · 334 U.S. 266 (1948)

Cited by

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

• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 551 U.S. 701 (2007)
• Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin · 570 U.S. 297 (2013)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc. · 572 U.S. 898 (2014)
• Beard v. Banks · 548 U.S. 521 (2006)
• Ricci v. DeStefano · 557 U.S. 557 (2009)
• Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington · 566 U.S. 318 (2012)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2005). 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).