Gillette v. United States

Decided March 8, 1971. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85 · 401 U.S. 437 (1971) · Cited 603 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

Decided 8–1.

“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.

• United States v. MacIntosh · 283 U.S. 605 (1931)
• United States v. Seeger · 380 U.S. 163 (1965)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Sicurella v. United States · 348 U.S. 385 (1955)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Hamilton v. Regents of the University of California · 293 U.S. 245 (1934)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• United States v. Sisson · 399 U.S. 267 (1970)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts · 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Presbyterian Church in US v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church · 393 U.S. 440 (1969)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• United States v. Ballard · 322 U.S. 78 (1944)
• Girouard v. United States · 328 U.S. 61 (1946)
• Schneider v. Rusk · 377 U.S. 163 (1964)
• Cleveland v. United States · 329 U.S. 14 (1946)
• Fowler v. Rhode Island · 345 U.S. 67 (1953)

Cited by

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

• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Clay v. United States · 403 U.S. 698 (1971)
• Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Comm'n. · 605 U.S. 238 (2025)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• Bowen v. Roy · 476 U.S. 693 (1986)
• Strait v. Laird · 406 U.S. 341 (1972)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council · 505 U.S. 1003 (1992)
• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• McGautha v. California · 402 U.S. 183 (1971)
• Hernandez v. Commissioner · 490 U.S. 680 (1989)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison · 432 U.S. 63 (1977)
• Goldman v. Weinberger · 475 U.S. 503 (1986)
• Ehlert v. United States · 402 U.S. 99 (1971)
• McGee v. United States · 402 U.S. 479 (1971)
• Parisi v. Davidson · 405 U.S. 34 (1972)

Official text

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

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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).