John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner v. Texas

Decided June 26, 2003. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-102 · 539 U.S. 558 (2003) · Cited 1,452 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 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.

• Bowers v. Hardwick · 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Romer v. Evans · 517 U.S. 620 (1996)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Washington v. Glucksberg · 521 U.S. 702 (1997)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. · 501 U.S. 560 (1991)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• County of Sacramento v. Lewis · 523 U.S. 833 (1998)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Reno v. Flores · 507 U.S. 292 (1993)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Nordlinger v. Hahn · 505 U.S. 1 (1992)
• Smith v. Doe · 538 U.S. 84 (2003)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Michael H. v. Gerald D. · 491 U.S. 110 (1989)
• Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York · 336 U.S. 106 (1949)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe · 538 U.S. 1 (2003)

Cited by

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

• Obergefell v. Hodges · 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
• Arizona v. Gant · 556 U.S. 332 (2009)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Kisor v. Wilkie · 588 U.S. 558 (2019)
• Gonzales v. Carhart · 550 U.S. 124 (2007)
• Georgia v. Public Resource.Org, Inc. · 590 U.S. 255 (2020)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Roper v. Simmons · 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
• Tennessee v. Lane · 541 U.S. 509 (2004)
• District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne · 557 U.S. 52 (2009)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Olympic Airways v. Husain · 540 U.S. 644 (2004)
• 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis · 600 U.S. 570 (2023)
• Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc. · 596 U.S. 880 (2022)

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).