Japan Line, Ltd., et al. v. County of Los Angeles et al.

Decided April 30, 1979. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1378 · 441 U.S. 434 (1979) · Cited 375 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 8–1.

“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.

• Department of Revenue v. Ass'n of Washington Stevedoring Companies · 435 U.S. 734 (1978)
• Hays v. the Pacific Mail Steam-Ship Co. · 58 U.S. 596 (1855)
• Moorman Manufacturing Co. v. Bair · 437 U.S. 267 (1978)
• Braniff Airways, Inc. v. Nebraska State Board of Equalization & Assessment · 347 U.S. 590 (1954)
• Ott v. Mississippi Valley Barge Line Co. · 336 U.S. 169 (1949)
• Pullman's Palace Car Co. v. Pennsylvania · 141 U.S. 18 (1891)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Minnesota · 322 U.S. 292 (1944)
• J. D. Adams Manufacturing Co. v. Storen · 304 U.S. 307 (1938)
• Michelin Tire Corp. v. Wages · 423 U.S. 276 (1976)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan · 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers, Inc. v. United States · 286 U.S. 427 (1932)
• Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona Ex Rel. Sullivan · 325 U.S. 761 (1945)
• Boston Stock Exchange v. State Tax Commission · 429 U.S. 318 (1977)
• Dahnke-Walker Milling Co. v. Bondurant · 257 U.S. 282 (1921)
• Henderson v. Mayor of the City of New York Commissioners of Immigration v. North German Lloyd · 92 U.S. 259 (1876)
• Bowman v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. · 125 U.S. 465 (1888)
• Warren Trading Post Co. v. Arizona Tax Commission · 380 U.S. 685 (1965)
• Central Greyhound Lines, Inc. v. Mealey · 334 U.S. 653 (1948)
• Chy Lung v. Freeman · 92 U.S. 275 (1876)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ill. v. United States · 289 U.S. 48 (1933)
• Southern Pacific Co. v. Kentucky · 222 U.S. 63 (1911)

Cited by

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

• Container Corp. of America v. Franchise Tax Board · 463 U.S. 159 (1983)
• Barclays Bank PLC v. Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. · 512 U.S. 298 (1994)
• Wardair Canada Inc. v. Florida Department of Revenue · 477 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Kraft General Foods, Inc. v. Iowa Department of Revenue & Finance · 505 U.S. 71 (1992)
• Polar Tankers, Inc. v. City of Valdez, Alaska · 557 U.S. 1 (2009)
• Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana · 453 U.S. 609 (1981)
• R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Durham County · 479 U.S. 130 (1986)
• Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe · 455 U.S. 130 (1982)
• Mobil Oil Corp. v. Commissioner of Taxes of Vt. · 445 U.S. 425 (1980)
• Exxon Corp. v. Department of Revenue of Wis. · 447 U.S. 207 (1980)
• Volt Info. Sciences, Inc. v. Bd. of Trustees of Leland Stanford Jr. U. · 489 U.S. 468 (1989)
• Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield · 490 U.S. 30 (1989)
• McCarty v. McCarty · 453 U.S. 210 (1981)
• Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council · 530 U.S. 363 (2000)
• Board of Directors of Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte · 481 U.S. 537 (1987)
• South-Central Timber Development, Inc. v. Wunnicke · 467 U.S. 82 (1984)
• Reeves, Inc. v. Stake · 447 U.S. 429 (1980)
• Goodyear Atomic Corp. v. Miller · 486 U.S. 174 (1988)
• American Ins. Assn. v. Garamendi · 539 U.S. 396 (2003)
• Goldberg v. Sweet · 488 U.S. 252 (1989)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Alcan Aluminium Ltd. · 493 U.S. 331 (1990)
• Amerada Hess Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation, New Jersey Department of the Treasury · 490 U.S. 66 (1989)
• Atkinson Trading Co. v. Shirley · 532 U.S. 645 (2001)

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).