Japan Whaling Association et al. v. American Cetacean Society et al.

Decided June 30, 1986. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-954 · 478 U.S. 221 (1986) · Cited 688 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.

• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe · 401 U.S. 402 (1971)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · 387 U.S. 136 (1967)
• Sedima, S. P. R. L. v. Imrex Co. · 473 U.S. 479 (1985)
• Sierra Club v. Morton · 405 U.S. 727 (1972)
• Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp · 397 U.S. 150 (1970)
• United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP) · 412 U.S. 669 (1973)
• Block v. Community Nutrition Institute · 467 U.S. 340 (1984)
• United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes, Inc. · 474 U.S. 121 (1985)
• Chemical Manufacturers Ass'n v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 470 U.S. 116 (1985)
• Morrison-Knudsen Construction Co. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs · 461 U.S. 624 (1983)

Cited by

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

• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Franklin v. Massachusetts · 505 U.S. 788 (1992)
• City of Arlington v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n · 569 U.S. 290 (2013)
• Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc. · 575 U.S. 320 (2015)
• Clarke v. Securities Industry Assn. · 479 U.S. 388 (1987)
• Zivotofsky Ex Rel. Zivotofsky v. Clinton · 566 U.S. 189 (2012)
• Mississippi Power & Light Co. v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Moore · 487 U.S. 354 (1988)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Dole v. United Steelworkers · 494 U.S. 26 (1990)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).