Jo Anne B. Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security v. Cleveland B. Walton

Decided March 27, 2002. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 00-1937 · 535 U.S. 212 (2002) · Cited 1,238 times

Holding

Federal immigration policy, as expressed by Congress in IRCA, foreclosed the Board from awarding backpay to an undocumented alien who has never been legally authorized to work in the United States.

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 9–0.

“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.

• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Smiley v. Citibank (South Dakota), N. A. · 517 U.S. 735 (1996)
• United States v. Morton · 467 U.S. 822 (1984)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Auer v. Robbins · 519 U.S. 452 (1997)
• Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Morton v. Ruiz · 415 U.S. 199 (1974)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor · 478 U.S. 833 (1986)
• Watt v. Alaska · 451 U.S. 259 (1981)
• Schweiker v. Gray Panthers · 453 U.S. 34 (1981)
• North Haven Board of Education v. Bell · 456 U.S. 512 (1982)
• Nationsbank of North Carolina, N. A. v. Variable Annuity Life Insurance · 513 U.S. 251 (1995)
• Sorenson v. Secretary of the Treasury · 475 U.S. 851 (1986)
• Department of Revenue of Ore. v. ACF Industries, Inc. · 510 U.S. 332 (1994)

Cited by

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

• City of Arlington v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n · 569 U.S. 290 (2013)
• Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki · 552 U.S. 389 (2008)
• Negusie v. Holder · 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• Entergy Corp. v. Riverkeeper, Inc. · 556 U.S. 208 (2009)
• National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services · 545 U.S. 967 (2005)
• Schaffer Ex Rel. Schaffer v. Weast · 546 U.S. 49 (2005)
• Gonzales v. Oregon · 546 U.S. 243 (2006)
• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation v. Environmental Protection Agency · 540 U.S. 461 (2004)
• Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo · 603 U.S. 369 (2024)
• SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu · 584 U.S. 357 (2018)
• West Virginia v. EPA · 597 U.S. 697 (2022)

Official text

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

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).