Larson, Commissioner of Securities, Minnesota Department of Commerce, et al. v. Valente et al.

Decided April 21, 1982. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-1666 · 456 U.S. 228 (1982) · Cited 826 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.

“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.

• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. · 438 U.S. 59 (1978)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization · 426 U.S. 26 (1976)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles · 331 U.S. 549 (1947)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood · 441 U.S. 91 (1979)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 444 U.S. 620 (1980)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Alabama State Federation of Labor v. McAdory · 325 U.S. 450 (1945)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Linda R. S. v. Richard D. · 410 U.S. 614 (1973)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. McLaughlin · 323 U.S. 101 (1944)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop · 440 U.S. 490 (1979)
• Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York · 336 U.S. 106 (1949)
• Watt v. Energy Action Educational Foundation · 454 U.S. 151 (1981)

Cited by

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

• Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Comm'n. · 605 U.S. 238 (2025)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Hernandez v. Commissioner · 490 U.S. 680 (1989)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency · 549 U.S. 497 (2007)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc. · 554 U.S. 269 (2008)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos · 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
• Town of Greece v. Galloway · 572 U.S. 565 (2014)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• JEB v. Alabama Ex Rel. TB · 511 U.S. 127 (1994)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Jean v. Nelson · 472 U.S. 846 (1985)
• Sporhase v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Douglas · 458 U.S. 941 (1982)
• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
• Carson v. Makin · 596 U.S. 767 (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).