Heath v. Alabama

Decided December 3, 1985. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-5555 · 474 U.S. 82 (1985) · Cited 631 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 7–2.

“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.

• United States v. Wheeler · 435 U.S. 313 (1978)
• Abbate v. United States · 359 U.S. 187 (1959)
• United States v. Lanza · 260 U.S. 377 (1922)
• Brown v. Ohio · 432 U.S. 161 (1977)
• Bartkus v. Illinois · 359 U.S. 121 (1959)
• Murphy v. Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor · 378 U.S. 52 (1964)
• Puerto Rico v. Shell Co. (PR), Ltd. · 302 U.S. 253 (1937)
• Ciucci v. Illinois · 356 U.S. 571 (1958)
• Elkins v. United States · 364 U.S. 206 (1960)
• Waller v. Florida · 397 U.S. 387 (1970)
• Nielsen · 131 U.S. 176 (1889)
• Skiriotes v. Florida · 313 U.S. 69 (1941)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• Santobello v. New York · 404 U.S. 257 (1971)
• Benton v. Maryland · 395 U.S. 784 (1969)
• Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
• United States v. Cruikshank · 92 U.S. 542 (1876)
• Illinois v. Vitale · 447 U.S. 410 (1980)
• Alfred L. Snapp & Son, Inc. v. Puerto Rico Ex Rel. Barez · 458 U.S. 592 (1982)
• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Duel · 324 U.S. 154 (1945)

Cited by

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

• Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle · 579 U.S. 59 (2016)
• Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
• Denezpi v. United States · 596 U.S. 591 (2022)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Koon v. United States · 518 U.S. 81 (1996)
• United States v. Gonzales · 520 U.S. 1 (1997)
• Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C. · 476 U.S. 877 (1986)
• Lewis v. United States · 523 U.S. 155 (1998)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Sandra Day O'Connor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).