Jeanne S. Woodford, et al. v. Viet Mike Ngo

Decided June 22, 2006. Samuel A. Alito Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 05-416 · 548 U.S. 81 (2006) · Cited 8,220 times

Holding

The PLRA’s exhaustion requirement requires proper exhaustion of administrative remedies.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“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.

• Sims v. Apfel · 530 U.S. 103 (2000)
• McKart v. United States · 395 U.S. 185 (1969)
• Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
• McCarthy v. Madigan · 503 U.S. 140 (1992)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Porter v. Nussle · 534 U.S. 516 (2002)
• Myers v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. · 303 U.S. 41 (1938)
• O'Sullivan v. Boerckel · 526 U.S. 838 (1999)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Booth v. Churner · 532 U.S. 731 (2001)
• United States v. L. A. Tucker Truck Lines, Inc. · 344 U.S. 33 (1952)
• Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans · 441 U.S. 750 (1979)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Engle v. Isaac · 456 U.S. 107 (1982)
• Roper v. Simmons · 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
• Gray v. Netherland · 518 U.S. 152 (1996)
• Hormel v. Helvering · 312 U.S. 552 (1941)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)
• Rodriguez v. United States · 480 U.S. 522 (1987)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Commercial Office Products Co. · 486 U.S. 107 (1988)
• Farmer v. Brennan · 511 U.S. 825 (1994)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Murray v. Carrier · 477 U.S. 478 (1986)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance · 517 U.S. 706 (1996)
• Castille v. Peoples · 489 U.S. 346 (1989)
• Muhammad v. Close · 540 U.S. 749 (2004)
• Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District · 524 U.S. 274 (1998)

Cited by

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

• Ross v. Blake · 578 U.S. 632 (2016)
• Ramirez v. Collier · 595 U.S. 411 (2022)
• Jones v. Bock · 549 U.S. 199 (2007)
• Perttu v. Richards · 605 U.S. 460 (2025)
• Pakdel v. City and County of San Francisco · 594 U.S. 474 (2021)
• Sebelius v. Auburn Regional Medical Center · 568 U.S. 145 (2013)
• Santos-Zacaria v. Garland · 598 U.S. 411 (2023)
• Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez · 596 U.S. 366 (2022)
• Carr v. Saul · 593 U.S. 83 (2021)
• Bruce v. Samuels · 577 U.S. 1021 (2016)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2006). 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).