Keith Lance, et al. v. Mike Coffman, Colorado Secretary of State
Decided March 5, 2007. The Court ruled per curiam — an unsigned opinion of the Court.
Docket 06-641 · 549 U.S. 437 (2007) · Cited 449 times
Holding
A district court has discretion to respond at once to a defendant’s forum non conveniens plea, and need not take up first any other threshold objection.
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.
- Fairchild v. Hughes · 258 U.S. 126 (1922)
- United States v. Richardson · 418 U.S. 166 (1974)
- Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
- Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
- Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
- Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. · 544 U.S. 280 (2005)
- Ruhrgas Ag v. Marathon Oil Co. · 526 U.S. 574 (1999)
- DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
- Massachusetts v. Mellon · 262 U.S. 447 (1923)
- Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War · 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
- Lance v. Dennis · 546 U.S. 459 (2006)
- Smiley v. Holm · 285 U.S. 355 (1932)
- Tyler v. Judges of the Court of Registration · 179 U.S. 405 (1900)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Gill v. Whitford · 585 U.S. 48 (2018)
- Hollingsworth v. Perry · 570 U.S. 693 (2013)
- Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. · 551 U.S. 587 (2007)
- Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
- Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc. · 554 U.S. 269 (2008)
- Carney v. Adams · 592 U.S. 53 (2020)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2007). 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).