Jo Anne B. Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security v. Sigmon Coal Company, Inc., et al.

Decided February 19, 2002. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 00-1307 · 534 U.S. 438 (2002) · Cited 1,044 times

Holding

The Coal Act does not permit the Commissioner to assign retired miners to the successors in interest of out-of-business signatory operators.

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.

• Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel · 524 U.S. 498 (1998)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• United States v. Brown · 333 U.S. 18 (1948)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Robinson v. Shell Oil Co. · 519 U.S. 337 (1997)
• United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc. · 489 U.S. 235 (1989)
• Connecticut National Bank v. Germain · 503 U.S. 249 (1992)
• United States v. Turkette · 452 U.S. 576 (1981)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Rowland v. California Men's Colony, Unit II Men's Advisory Council · 506 U.S. 194 (1993)
• John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Livingston · 376 U.S. 543 (1964)
• United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)
• Green v. Bock Laundry MacHine Co. · 490 U.S. 504 (1989)
• Golden State Bottling Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 414 U.S. 168 (1973)
• Fall River Dyeing & Finishing Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 482 U.S. 27 (1987)
• Harrison v. PPG Industries, Inc. · 446 U.S. 578 (1980)
• Trans Alaska Pipeline Rate Cases · 436 U.S. 631 (1978)
• Wilson v. Omaha Indian Tribe · 442 U.S. 653 (1979)

Cited by

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

• Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States · 579 U.S. 162 (2016)
• Barnhart v. Peabody Coal Co. · 537 U.S. 149 (2003)
• Wyeth v. Levine · 555 U.S. 555 (2009)
• Sebelius v. Cloer · 569 U.S. 369 (2013)
• Millbrook v. United States · 569 U.S. 50 (2013)
• Mississippi Ex Rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp. · 571 U.S. 161 (2014)
• Zuni Public School District No. 89 v. Department of Education · 550 U.S. 81 (2007)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt · 587 U.S. 262 (2019)
• Negusie v. Holder · 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• Pulsifer v. United States · 601 U.S. 124 (2024)
• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. · 542 U.S. 241 (2004)
• Doe v. Chao · 540 U.S. 614 (2004)
• Allison Engine Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Sanders · 553 U.S. 662 (2008)
• Carcieri v. Salazar · 555 U.S. 379 (2009)
• United States ex rel. Eisenstein v. City of New York · 556 U.S. 928 (2009)
• City of Columbus v. Ours Garage & Wrecker Service, Inc. · 536 U.S. 424 (2002)
• Koons Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. v. Nigh · 543 U.S. 50 (2004)
• Levin v. United States · 568 U.S. 503 (2013)
• Collins v. Yellen · 594 U.S. 220 (2021)
• Bondi v. Vanderstok · 604 U.S. 458 (2025)

Official text

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

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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).