Indian Towing Co., Inc., et al. v. United States

Decided November 21, 1955. Felix Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 8 · 350 U.S. 61 (1955) · Cited 1,289 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.

• Dalehite v. United States · 346 U.S. 15 (1953)
• Feres v. United States · 340 U.S. 135 (1950)
• United States v. American Trucking Associations · 310 U.S. 534 (1940)
• Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co. · 328 U.S. 680 (1946)
• Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill · 332 U.S. 380 (1947)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Brooks v. United States · 337 U.S. 49 (1949)
• Commissioner v. Estate of Church · 335 U.S. 632 (1949)
• Bay Ridge Operating Co. v. Aaron · 334 U.S. 446 (1948)
• Eastern Transportation Co. v. United States · 272 U.S. 675 (1927)
• Helvering v. Reynolds · 313 U.S. 428 (1941)
• District of Columbia v. Woodbury · 136 U.S. 450 (1890)
• Toolson v. New York Yankees, Inc. · 346 U.S. 356 (1953)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Olson · 546 U.S. 43 (2005)
• Berkovitz v. United States · 486 U.S. 531 (1988)
• City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co. · 435 U.S. 389 (1978)
• Laird v. Nelms · 406 U.S. 797 (1972)
• United States v. Gaubert · 499 U.S. 315 (1991)
• United States v. S.A. Empresa De Viacao Aerea Rio Grandense · 467 U.S. 797 (1984)
• Block v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Board of University & School Lands · 461 U.S. 273 (1983)
• United States v. Neustadt · 366 U.S. 696 (1961)
• Rayonier Inc. v. United States · 352 U.S. 315 (1957)
• Block v. Neal · 460 U.S. 289 (1983)
• United States v. Mitchell · 463 U.S. 206 (1983)
• United States v. Kubrick · 444 U.S. 111 (1979)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• Howlett Ex Rel. Howlett v. Rose · 496 U.S. 356 (1990)
• Ruckelshaus v. Sierra Club · 463 U.S. 680 (1983)
• United States v. Muniz · 374 U.S. 150 (1963)
• Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 284 (2012)
• Sheridan v. United States · 487 U.S. 392 (1988)
• United States v. Johnson · 481 U.S. 681 (1987)
• Molzof v. United States · 502 U.S. 301 (1992)
• United States v. Kwai Fun Wong · 575 U.S. 402 (2015)
• Ball v. James · 451 U.S. 355 (1981)

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).