Heckler, Secretary of Health and Human Services v. Ringer et al.

Decided May 14, 1984. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-1772 · 466 U.S. 602 (1984) · Cited 1,473 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 6–3.

“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.

• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Mathews v. Diaz · 426 U.S. 67 (1976)
• Califano v. Sanders · 430 U.S. 99 (1977)
• Schweiker v. McClure · 456 U.S. 188 (1982)
• Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe · 401 U.S. 402 (1971)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp · 397 U.S. 150 (1970)
• Kerr v. United States Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of Cal. · 426 U.S. 394 (1976)
• Hagans v. Lavine · 415 U.S. 528 (1974)
• Heckler v. Campbell · 461 U.S. 458 (1983)
• Califano v. Yamasaki · 442 U.S. 682 (1979)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Leedom v. Kyne · 358 U.S. 184 (1958)
• Barlow v. Collins · 397 U.S. 159 (1970)
• Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld · 420 U.S. 636 (1975)
• Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County · 415 U.S. 250 (1974)
• Schweiker v. Wilson · 450 U.S. 221 (1981)
• Dunlop v. Bachowski · 421 U.S. 560 (1975)
• Switchmen's Union v. National Mediation Board · 320 U.S. 297 (1943)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• Heikkila v. Barber · 345 U.S. 229 (1953)
• Norton Ex Rel. Chiles v. Mathews · 427 U.S. 524 (1976)
• United States v. Erika, Inc. · 456 U.S. 201 (1982)
• Rusk v. Cort · 369 U.S. 367 (1962)
• Southern Railway Co. v. Seaboard Allied Milling Corp. · 442 U.S. 444 (1979)
• Morris v. Gressette · 432 U.S. 491 (1977)
• Brownell v. Tom We Shung · 352 U.S. 180 (1956)
• United States Ex Rel. Girard Trust Co. v. Helvering · 301 U.S. 540 (1937)

Cited by

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

• Shalala v. Illinois Council on Long Term Care, Inc. · 529 U.S. 1 (2000)
• McNary v. Haitian Refugee Center, Inc. · 498 U.S. 479 (1991)
• Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians · 476 U.S. 667 (1986)
• Smith v. Berryhill · 587 U.S. 471 (2019)
• Schweiker v. Chilicky · 487 U.S. 412 (1988)
• Your Home Visiting Nurse Services, Inc. v. Shalala · 525 U.S. 449 (1999)
• Cheney v. United States District Court for District of Columbia · 542 U.S. 367 (2004)
• Bowen v. City of New York · 476 U.S. 467 (1986)
• Jones v. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. · 541 U.S. 369 (2004)
• Reiter v. Cooper · 507 U.S. 258 (1993)
• Wachovia Bank, National Ass'n v. Schmidt · 546 U.S. 303 (2006)
• Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich · 510 U.S. 200 (1994)
• Elgin v. Department of the Treasury · 567 U.S. 1 (2012)
• Pittston Coal Group v. Sebben · 488 U.S. 105 (1988)

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).