McCarty v. McCarty
Decided June 26, 1981. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 80-5 · 453 U.S. 210 (1981) · Cited 1,052 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.
Majority · 6
- Harry Andrew Blackmun · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- John Paul Stevens
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.
- Thurgood Marshall
- Warren Earl Burger
Dissenting · 3
- Potter Stewart
- William Hubbs Rehnquist · filed a dissenting opinion
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
“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.
- Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo · 439 U.S. 572 (1979)
- Wissner v. Wissner · 338 U.S. 655 (1950)
- Free v. Bland · 369 U.S. 663 (1962)
- Buchanan v. Alexander · 45 U.S. 20 (1845)
- United States v. Yazell · 382 U.S. 341 (1966)
- In Re Burrus · 136 U.S. 586 (1890)
- Dahnke-Walker Milling Co. v. Bondurant · 257 U.S. 282 (1921)
- Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc. · 451 U.S. 504 (1981)
- United States v. Larionoff · 431 U.S. 864 (1977)
- Japan Line, Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles · 441 U.S. 434 (1979)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Mansell v. Mansell · 490 U.S. 581 (1989)
- Rose v. Rose · 481 U.S. 619 (1987)
- Ridgway v. Ridgway · 454 U.S. 46 (1981)
- Howell v. Howell · 581 U.S. 214 (2017)
- Boggs v. Boggs · 520 U.S. 833 (1997)
- Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
- Volt Info. Sciences, Inc. v. Bd. of Trustees of Leland Stanford Jr. U. · 489 U.S. 468 (1989)
- R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Durham County · 479 U.S. 130 (1986)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Harry Andrew Blackmun’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
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).