Honig, California Superintendent of Public Instruction v. Doe et al.

Decided January 20, 1988. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-728 · 484 U.S. 305 (1988) · Cited 2,029 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 6–2.

“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.

• Murphy v. Hunt · 455 U.S. 478 (1982)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Preiser v. Newkirk · 422 U.S. 395 (1975)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Weinstein v. Bradford · 423 U.S. 147 (1975)
• Mills v. Green · 159 U.S. 651 (1895)
• United States v. Munsingwear, Inc. · 340 U.S. 36 (1950)
• School Committee of the Town of Burlington v. Department of Education · 471 U.S. 359 (1985)
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, County of Norfolk · 457 U.S. 596 (1982)
• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Riverside · 478 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Moore v. Ogilvie · 394 U.S. 814 (1969)
• California Coastal Commission v. Granite Rock Co. · 480 U.S. 572 (1987)
• Burlington Northern Railroad v. Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes · 481 U.S. 429 (1987)
• Sibron v. New York · 392 U.S. 40 (1968)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• O'Shea v. Littleton · 414 U.S. 488 (1974)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley Ex Rel. Rowley · 458 U.S. 176 (1982)
• Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
• United States v. W. T. Grant Co. · 345 U.S. 629 (1953)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty · 445 U.S. 388 (1980)
• Doe v. Bolton · 410 U.S. 179 (1973)
• City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc. · 455 U.S. 283 (1982)
• Smith v. Robinson · 468 U.S. 992 (1984)
• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party · 440 U.S. 173 (1979)
• Edgar v. Mite Corp. · 457 U.S. 624 (1982)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Sanchez-Gomez · 584 U.S. 381 (2018)
• Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools · 580 U.S. 154 (2017)
• Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins · 578 U.S. 330 (2016)
• Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez · 577 U.S. 153 (2016)
• Thole v. U. S. Bank N. A. · 590 U.S. 538 (2020)
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. · 528 U.S. 167 (2000)
• Olmstead v. L.C. · 527 U.S. 581 (1999)
• Dellmuth v. Muth · 491 U.S. 223 (1989)
• United States v. Sineneng-Smith · 590 U.S. 371 (2020)
• A. J. T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School Dist. No. 279 · 605 U.S. 335 (2025)
• Endrew F. v. Douglas County School Dist. RE–1 · 580 U.S. 386 (2017)

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).