Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist.

Decided June 25, 2013. Samuel A. Alito Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-1447 · 570 U.S. 595 (2013) · Cited 373 times

Holding

Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional; its formula can no longer be used as a basis for subjecting jurisdictions to preclearance.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Dolan v. City of Tigard · 512 U.S. 374 (1994)
• Nollan v. California Coastal Commission · 483 U.S. 825 (1987)
• Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel · 524 U.S. 498 (1998)
• Lingle v. Chevron U. S. A. Inc. · 544 U.S. 528 (2005)
• Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City · 438 U.S. 104 (1978)
• Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington · 538 U.S. 216 (2003)
• Armstrong v. United States · 364 U.S. 40 (1960)
• Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County · 415 U.S. 250 (1974)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Louisville Joint Stock Land Bank v. Radford · 295 U.S. 555 (1935)
• Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon · 260 U.S. 393 (1922)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd. · 526 U.S. 687 (1999)
• Frost & Frost Trucking Co. v. Railroad Comm'n of Cal. · 271 U.S. 583 (1926)
• Mullaney v. Wilbur · 421 U.S. 684 (1975)
• Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. · 272 U.S. 365 (1926)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad · 240 U.S. 1 (1916)
• United States v. Butler · 297 U.S. 1 (1936)
• Webb's Fabulous Pharmacies, Inc. v. Beckwith · 449 U.S. 155 (1980)
• United States v. Security Industrial Bank · 459 U.S. 70 (1982)
• Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation · 524 U.S. 156 (1998)
• Norwood v. Baker · 172 U.S. 269 (1898)
• United States v. Sperry Corp. · 493 U.S. 52 (1989)
• A. Magnano Co. v. Hamilton · 292 U.S. 40 (1934)
• Houck v. Little River Drainage District · 239 U.S. 254 (1915)
• Southern Pacific Co. v. Denton · 146 U.S. 202 (1892)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)

Cited by

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

• Sheetz v. El Dorado County · 601 U.S. 267 (2024)
• Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid · 594 U.S. 139 (2021)
• Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene's Energy Group, LLC · 584 U.S. 325 (2018)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2013). 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).