Hutto et al. v. Finney et al.

Decided June 23, 1978. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1660 · 437 U.S. 678 (1978) · Cited 2,261 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 5–4.

“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.

• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Employees of Department of Public Health v. Department of Public Health · 411 U.S. 279 (1973)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 433 U.S. 267 (1977)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 433 U.S. 406 (1977)
• Estelle v. Gamble · 429 U.S. 97 (1976)
• United States v. United Mine Workers of America · 330 U.S. 258 (1947)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler · 427 U.S. 424 (1976)
• Meachum v. Fano · 427 U.S. 215 (1976)
• Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 434 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Bradley v. School Bd. of Richmond · 416 U.S. 696 (1974)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury · 323 U.S. 459 (1945)
• Sprague v. Ticonic National Bank · 307 U.S. 161 (1939)
• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 418 U.S. 717 (1974)
• Parden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama State Docks Department · 377 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Great Northern Life Insurance Co. v. Read · 322 U.S. 47 (1944)
• Petty v. Tennessee-Missouri Bridge Commission · 359 U.S. 275 (1959)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Sloan · 436 U.S. 103 (1978)
• Toledo Scale Co. v. Computing Scale Co. · 261 U.S. 399 (1923)
• Pfizer Inc. v. Government of India · 434 U.S. 308 (1978)
• Arcambel v. Wiseman · 3 U.S. 306 (1796)

Cited by

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

• Missouri v. Jenkins Ex Rel. Agyei · 491 U.S. 274 (1989)
• Quern v. Jordan · 440 U.S. 332 (1979)
• Rhodes v. Chapman · 452 U.S. 337 (1981)
• Maher v. Gagne · 448 U.S. 122 (1980)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• Kentucky v. Graham · 473 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Wilson v. Seiter · 501 U.S. 294 (1991)
• Chambers v. Nasco, Inc. · 501 U.S. 32 (1991)
• Brandon v. Holt · 469 U.S. 464 (1985)
• Farmer v. Brennan · 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
• Helling v. McKinney · 509 U.S. 25 (1993)
• Brown v. Plata · 563 U.S. 493 (2011)
• Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper · 447 U.S. 752 (1980)
• Maine v. Thiboutot · 448 U.S. 1 (1980)
• White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security · 455 U.S. 445 (1982)
• Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. · 446 U.S. 719 (1980)
• Davis v. Ayala · 576 U.S. 257 (2015)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Solem v. Helm · 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
• Alabama v. Pugh · 438 U.S. 781 (1978)
• Dellmuth v. Muth · 491 U.S. 223 (1989)
• Florida Department of State v. Treasure Salvors, Inc. · 458 U.S. 670 (1982)
• Spallone v. United States · 493 U.S. 265 (1990)
• Papasan v. Allain · 478 U.S. 265 (1986)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• Hudson v. McMillian · 503 U.S. 1 (1992)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Harmelin v. Michigan · 501 U.S. 957 (1991)
• Collins v. City of Harker Heights · 503 U.S. 115 (1992)

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).