Gerald T. Martin, et Ux. v. Franklin Capital Corporation et al.

Decided December 7, 2005. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 04-1140 · 546 U.S. 132 (2005) · Cited 2,624 times

Holding

The United States may offset Social Security benefits to collect a student loan debt that has been outstanding for over 10 years.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Independent Federation of Flight Attendants v. Zipes · 491 U.S. 754 (1989)
• Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. · 510 U.S. 517 (1994)
• Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 434 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)
• Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railway Co. v. Swan · 111 U.S. 379 (1884)
• City of Milwaukee v. Cement Division, National Gypsum Co. · 515 U.S. 189 (1995)

Cited by

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

• Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. · 579 U.S. 93 (2016)
• Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. · 579 U.S. 197 (2016)
• Opati v. Republic of Sudan · 590 U.S. 418 (2020)
• Golan v. Saada · 596 U.S. 666 (2022)
• Nken v. Holder · 556 U.S. 418 (2009)
• BP p.l.c. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore · 593 U.S. 230 (2021)

Official text

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

Explore from here

John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).