Mathews, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare v. Lucas et al.

Decided June 29, 1976. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-88 · 427 U.S. 495 (1976) · Cited 621 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 6–3.

“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.

• Jimenez v. Weinberger · 417 U.S. 628 (1974)
• Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. · 406 U.S. 164 (1972)
• Frontiero v. Richardson · 411 U.S. 677 (1973)
• Gomez v. Perez · 409 U.S. 535 (1973)
• Labine v. Vincent · 401 U.S. 532 (1971)
• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld · 420 U.S. 636 (1975)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Hirabayashi v. United States · 320 U.S. 81 (1943)
• Levy v. Louisiana Ex Rel. Charity Hospital · 391 U.S. 68 (1968)
• United States v. Gainey · 380 U.S. 63 (1965)
• Stanley v. Illinois · 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co. · 220 U.S. 61 (1911)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Korematsu v. United States · 323 U.S. 214 (1945)
• Richardson v. Belcher · 404 U.S. 78 (1971)
• McGinnis v. Royster · 410 U.S. 263 (1973)
• Jefferson v. Hackney · 406 U.S. 535 (1972)
• Geduldig v. Aiello · 417 U.S. 484 (1974)
• Oyama v. California · 332 U.S. 633 (1948)
• Schlesinger v. Ballard · 419 U.S. 498 (1975)
• James v. Strange · 407 U.S. 128 (1972)

Cited by

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

• Trimble v. Gordon · 430 U.S. 762 (1977)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• United States v. Skrmetti · 605 U.S. 495 (2025)
• Baze v. Rees · 553 U.S. 35 (2008)
• Fiallo Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Bell · 430 U.S. 787 (1977)
• Mills v. Habluetzel · 456 U.S. 91 (1982)
• Lalli v. Lalli · 439 U.S. 259 (1978)
• Pickett v. Brown · 462 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• Caban v. Mohammed · 441 U.S. 380 (1979)
• Parham v. Hughes · 441 U.S. 347 (1979)
• Califano v. Aznavorian · 439 U.S. 170 (1978)
• Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co. · 455 U.S. 422 (1982)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz · 449 U.S. 166 (1980)
• Great American Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Novotny · 442 U.S. 366 (1979)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Schweiker v. Wilson · 450 U.S. 221 (1981)
• Clark v. Jeter · 486 U.S. 456 (1988)
• New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer · 440 U.S. 568 (1979)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• Rogers v. Lodge · 458 U.S. 613 (1982)
• Sullivan v. Stroop · 496 U.S. 478 (1990)
• Mathews v. De Castro · 429 U.S. 181 (1976)
• Lyng v. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers · 485 U.S. 360 (1988)

Official text

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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).