Lehman, Secretary of the Navy v. Nakshian

Decided June 26, 1981. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-242 · 453 U.S. 156 (1981) · Cited 905 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.

• Lorillard v. Pons · 434 U.S. 575 (1978)
• Soriano v. United States · 352 U.S. 270 (1957)
• Galloway v. United States · 319 U.S. 372 (1943)
• United States v. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
• United States v. Sherwood · 312 U.S. 584 (1941)
• United States v. Mitchell · 445 U.S. 535 (1980)
• Law v. United States · 266 U.S. 494 (1925)
• United States v. King · 395 U.S. 1 (1969)
• Glidden Co. v. Zdanok · 370 U.S. 530 (1962)
• McElrath v. United States · 102 U.S. 426 (1880)
• United States v. Kubrick · 444 U.S. 111 (1979)
• Curtis v. Loether · 415 U.S. 189 (1974)
• Great American Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Novotny · 442 U.S. 366 (1979)
• Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans · 441 U.S. 750 (1979)
• Fedorenko v. United States · 449 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Montclair v. Ramsdell · 107 U.S. 147 (1883)
• Gilbert v. United States · 370 U.S. 650 (1962)
• Monroe v. Standard Oil Co. · 452 U.S. 549 (1981)

Cited by

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

• Babb v. Wilkie · 589 U.S. 399 (2020)
• Gomez-Perez v. Potter · 553 U.S. 474 (2008)
• Osborn v. Haley · 549 U.S. 225 (2007)
• West v. Gibson · 527 U.S. 212 (1999)
• United States v. Mitchell · 463 U.S. 206 (1983)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Lane v. Pena · 518 U.S. 187 (1996)
• Block v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Board of University & School Lands · 461 U.S. 273 (1983)
• Library of Congress v. Shaw · 478 U.S. 310 (1986)
• City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd. · 526 U.S. 687 (1999)
• Chauffeurs, Teamsters & Helpers Local No. 391 v. Terry · 494 U.S. 558 (1990)
• Scarborough v. Principi · 541 U.S. 401 (2004)
• Commissioner v. Schleier · 515 U.S. 323 (1995)
• Henderson v. United States · 517 U.S. 654 (1996)
• United States v. Erika, Inc. · 456 U.S. 201 (1982)
• Wilkins v. United States · 598 U.S. 152 (2023)

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).