James Alexander, Director, Alabama Department of Public Safety, et al. v. Martha Sandoval, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated

Decided April 24, 2001. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-1908 · 532 U.S. 275 (2001) · Cited 2,468 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.

• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Lau v. Nichols · 414 U.S. 563 (1974)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Alexander v. Choate · 469 U.S. 287 (1985)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran · 456 U.S. 353 (1982)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington · 442 U.S. 560 (1979)
• Central Bank of Denver, N. A. v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, N. A. · 511 U.S. 164 (1994)
• J. I. Case Co. v. Borak · 377 U.S. 426 (1964)
• Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools · 503 U.S. 60 (1992)
• Mourning v. Family Publications Service, Inc. · 411 U.S. 356 (1973)
• Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance v. Russell · 473 U.S. 134 (1985)
• Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis · 444 U.S. 11 (1979)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Transport Workers Union · 451 U.S. 77 (1981)
• Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham · 393 U.S. 268 (1969)
• Bazemore v. Friday · 478 U.S. 385 (1986)
• Thompson v. Thompson · 484 U.S. 174 (1988)
• Virginia Bankshares, Inc. v. Sandberg · 501 U.S. 1083 (1991)
• Karahalios v. National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1263 · 489 U.S. 527 (1989)
• Sullivan v. Everhart · 494 U.S. 83 (1990)
• Musick, Peeler & Garrett v. Employers Ins. of Wausau · 508 U.S. 286 (1993)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson · 478 U.S. 804 (1986)
• Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
• Davis Ex Rel. LaShonda D. v. Monroe County Board of Education · 526 U.S. 629 (1999)

Cited by

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

• Global Crossing Telecommunications, Inc. v. Metrophones Telecommunications, Inc. · 550 U.S. 45 (2007)
• Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc. · 575 U.S. 320 (2015)
• Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education · 544 U.S. 167 (2005)
• Hernández v. Mesa · 589 U.S. 93 (2020)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Gonzaga University v. Doe · 536 U.S. 273 (2002)
• Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. · 552 U.S. 148 (2008)
• Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic · 606 U.S. 357 (2025)
• Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
• Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko · 534 U.S. 61 (2001)
• Comcast Corp. v. National Assn. of African-American Owned Media · 589 U.S. 327 (2020)
• CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries · 553 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. SW Gen., Inc. · 580 U.S. 288 (2017)
• Liu v. SEC. & Exch. Comm'n · 591 U.S. 71 (2020)
• Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller · 596 U.S. 212 (2022)
• Egbert v. Boule · 596 U.S. 482 (2022)
• Horne v. Flores · 557 U.S. 433 (2009)
• Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
• Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC · 584 U.S. 241 (2018)
• Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe · 593 U.S. 628 (2021)
• Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance v. Knudson · 534 U.S. 204 (2002)
• Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain · 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
• Barnes v. Gorman · 536 U.S. 181 (2002)
• City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams · 544 U.S. 113 (2005)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Astra USA, Inc. v. Santa Clara County · 563 U.S. 110 (2011)
• Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta · 597 U.S. 629 (2022)
• Wilkins v. United States · 598 U.S. 152 (2023)
• AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC · 593 U.S. 67 (2021)

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).