Ken L. Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Frank Buono
Decided April 28, 2010. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 08-472 · 559 U.S. 700 (2010) · Cited 204 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 5–4.
Plurality · 1
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · delivered the opinion of the Court
Concurring · 4
- Antonin Scalia · filed a concurring opinion
- Clarence Thomas
- John Glover Roberts Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
- Samuel A. Alito Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 4
- John Paul Stevens · filed a dissenting opinion
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
- County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
- Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
- United States v. Swift & Co. · 286 U.S. 106 (1932)
- United States v. United Shoe MacHinery Corp. · 391 U.S. 244 (1968)
- Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
- Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
- McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
- Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
- Summers v. Earth Island Institute · 555 U.S. 488 (2009)
- Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo · 456 U.S. 305 (1982)
- Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
- Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
- Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
- United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
- Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Bailey · 557 U.S. 137 (2009)
- System Federation No. 91 v. Wright · 364 U.S. 642 (1961)
- City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
- Quern v. Jordan · 440 U.S. 332 (1979)
- United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
- Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- Hecht Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 321 (1944)
- Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. · 514 U.S. 211 (1995)
- Knowles v. Iowa · 525 U.S. 113 (1998)
- Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
- Pleasant Grove City v. Summum · 555 U.S. 460 (2009)
- Wilkie v. Robbins · 551 U.S. 537 (2007)
- Horne v. Flores · 557 U.S. 433 (2009)
- Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
- Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam · 591 U.S. 103 (2020)
- Town of Greece v. Galloway · 572 U.S. 565 (2014)
- Trump v. CASA, Inc. · 606 U.S. 831 (2025)
- Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer · 601 U.S. 1 (2023)
- Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (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).