Kelley, Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department v. Johnson

Decided April 5, 1976. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-1269 · 425 U.S. 238 (1976) · Cited 518 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 6–2.

“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.

• Garrity v. New Jersey · 385 U.S. 493 (1967)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• Poe v. Ullman · 367 U.S. 497 (1961)
• Kent v. Dulles · 357 U.S. 116 (1958)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Stanley v. Illinois · 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts · 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• Union Pacific Railway Co. v. Botsford · 141 U.S. 250 (1891)
• Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. v. Missouri · 342 U.S. 421 (1952)
• Olsen v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Western Reference & Bond Assn., Inc. · 313 U.S. 236 (1941)

Cited by

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

• Harrah Independent School District v. Martin · 440 U.S. 194 (1979)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Brown v. Glines · 444 U.S. 348 (1980)

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).