Manuel v. City of Joliet

Decided March 21, 2017. Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 14-9496 · 580 U.S. 357 (2017) · Cited 1,069 times

Holding

Laches cannot be invoked as a defense against a claim for damages brought within § 286's 6-year limitations period.

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 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.

• Gerstein v. Pugh · 420 U.S. 103 (1975)
• Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
• Wallace v. Kato · 549 U.S. 384 (2007)
• Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
• County of Riverside v. McLaughlin · 500 U.S. 44 (1991)
• Wilson v. Garcia · 471 U.S. 261 (1985)
• California v. Hodari D. · 499 U.S. 621 (1991)
• Haring v. Prosise · 462 U.S. 306 (1983)
• Jackson v. Virginia · 443 U.S. 307 (1979)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Baker v. McCollan · 443 U.S. 137 (1979)
• Carey v. Piphus · 435 U.S. 247 (1978)
• United States v. Calandra · 414 U.S. 338 (1974)
• Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit · 507 U.S. 163 (1993)
• Whiteley v. Warden, Wyoming State Penitentiary · 401 U.S. 560 (1971)
• Ashcroft v. al-Kidd · 563 U.S. 731 (2011)
• Hartman v. Moore · 547 U.S. 250 (2006)
• Brendlin v. California · 551 U.S. 249 (2007)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Rehberg v. Paulk · 566 U.S. 356 (2012)
• Thompson v. City of Louisville · 362 U.S. 199 (1960)
• Bailey v. United States · 568 U.S. 186 (2013)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)

Cited by

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

• Thompson v. Clark · 596 U.S. 36 (2022)
• Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon · 602 U.S. 556 (2024)
• Nieves v. Bartlett · 587 U.S. 391 (2019)
• Gonzalez v. Trevino · 602 U.S. 653 (2024)
• Stanley v. City of Sanford · 606 U.S. 46 (2025)

Explore from here

Elena Kagan’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2017). 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).