Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran et al.

Decided May 3, 1982. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-203 · 456 U.S. 353 (1982) · Cited 759 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.

• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Rigsby · 241 U.S. 33 (1916)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Middlesex County Sewerage Authority v. National Sea Clammers Assn. · 453 U.S. 1 (1981)
• California v. Sierra Club · 451 U.S. 287 (1981)
• Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington · 442 U.S. 560 (1979)
• Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. Lewis · 444 U.S. 11 (1979)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Lorillard v. Pons · 434 U.S. 575 (1978)
• J. I. Case Co. v. Borak · 377 U.S. 426 (1964)
• Superintendent of Insurance of New York v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co. · 404 U.S. 6 (1971)
• Texas Industries, Inc. v. Radcliff Materials, Inc. · 451 U.S. 630 (1981)
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. National Assn. of Railroad Passengers · 414 U.S. 453 (1974)
• Wheeldin v. Wheeler · 373 U.S. 647 (1963)
• Universities Research Assn., Inc. v. Coutu · 450 U.S. 754 (1981)
• Board of Trade of Chicago v. Olsen · 262 U.S. 1 (1923)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder · 425 U.S. 185 (1976)
• Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah v. United States · 406 U.S. 128 (1972)
• Hill v. Wallace · 259 U.S. 44 (1922)
• T. I. M. E. Inc. v. United States · 359 U.S. 464 (1959)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Brown v. General Services Administration · 425 U.S. 820 (1976)
• Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad · 323 U.S. 192 (1944)
• Santa Fe Industries, Inc. v. Green · 430 U.S. 462 (1977)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• Virginian Railway Co. v. System Federation No. 40 · 300 U.S. 515 (1937)
• Allen v. State Board of Elections · 393 U.S. 544 (1969)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Transport Workers Union · 451 U.S. 77 (1981)

Cited by

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

• Omni Capital International, Ltd. v. Rudolf Wolff & Co. · 484 U.S. 97 (1987)
• Alexander v. Sandoval · 532 U.S. 275 (2001)
• Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson · 478 U.S. 804 (1986)
• Central Bank of Denver, N. A. v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, N. A. · 511 U.S. 164 (1994)
• Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. · 552 U.S. 148 (2008)
• Thompson v. Thompson · 484 U.S. 174 (1988)
• Herman & MacLean v. Huddleston · 459 U.S. 375 (1983)
• Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools · 503 U.S. 60 (1992)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• Daily Income Fund, Inc. v. Fox · 464 U.S. 523 (1984)
• Jackson Transit Authority v. Local Division 1285, Amalgamated Transit Union · 457 U.S. 15 (1982)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Heckler v. Chaney · 470 U.S. 821 (1985)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Bildisco & Bildisco · 465 U.S. 513 (1984)
• United States v. Fausto · 484 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor · 478 U.S. 833 (1986)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Midlantic National Bank v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection · 474 U.S. 494 (1986)
• Blue Shield of Va. v. McCready · 457 U.S. 465 (1982)
• Lindahl v. Office of Personnel Management · 470 U.S. 768 (1985)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Phinpathya · 464 U.S. 183 (1984)
• Square D Co. v. Niagara Frontier Tariff Bureau, Inc. · 476 U.S. 409 (1986)
• Randall v. Loftsgaarden · 478 U.S. 647 (1986)
• South Carolina v. Regan · 465 U.S. 367 (1984)
• Heckler v. Day · 467 U.S. 104 (1984)
• Musick, Peeler & Garrett v. Employers Ins. of Wausau · 508 U.S. 286 (1993)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• Dunn v. Commodity Futures Trading Commission · 519 U.S. 465 (1997)

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).