Merrion et al., Dba Merrion & Bayless, et al. v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe et al.

Decided January 25, 1982. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-11 · 455 U.S. 130 (1982) · Cited 568 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.

• Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation · 447 U.S. 134 (1980)
• United States v. Wheeler · 435 U.S. 313 (1978)
• Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe · 435 U.S. 191 (1978)
• Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana · 453 U.S. 609 (1981)
• United States v. Mazurie · 419 U.S. 544 (1975)
• Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez · 436 U.S. 49 (1978)
• Prudential Insurance v. Benjamin · 328 U.S. 408 (1946)
• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Montana v. United States · 450 U.S. 544 (1981)
• Mobil Oil Corp. v. Commissioner of Taxes of Vt. · 445 U.S. 425 (1980)
• Japan Line, Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles · 441 U.S. 434 (1979)
• Fisher v. District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana · 424 U.S. 382 (1976)
• Exxon Corp. v. Department of Revenue of Wis. · 447 U.S. 207 (1980)
• Sioux Tribe of Indians v. United States · 316 U.S. 317 (1942)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• Home Building & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell · 290 U.S. 398 (1934)
• Williams v. Lee · 358 U.S. 217 (1959)
• Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida · 414 U.S. 661 (1974)
• White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker · 448 U.S. 136 (1980)
• United States v. Kagama · 118 U.S. 375 (1886)
• United States v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. · 309 U.S. 506 (1940)
• Wisconsin v. J. C. Penney Co. · 311 U.S. 435 (1941)
• Nevada v. Hall · 440 U.S. 410 (1979)
• Jones v. Meehan · 175 U.S. 1 (1899)
• Veix v. Sixth Ward Building & Loan Assn. of Newark · 310 U.S. 32 (1940)
• New York Rapid Transit Corp. v. City of New York · 303 U.S. 573 (1938)
• Talton v. Mayes · 163 U.S. 376 (1896)
• Department of Revenue v. Ass'n of Washington Stevedoring Companies · 435 U.S. 734 (1978)
• Tee-Hit-Ton Indians v. United States · 348 U.S. 272 (1955)
• New York Ex Rel. Ray v. Martin · 326 U.S. 496 (1946)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Winstar Corp. · 518 U.S. 839 (1996)
• Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico · 490 U.S. 163 (1989)
• Atkinson Trading Co. v. Shirley · 532 U.S. 645 (2001)
• BRENDALE v. CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS OF THE YAKIMA INDIAN NATION Et Al. · 492 U.S. 408 (1989)
• Nevada v. Hicks · 533 U.S. 353 (2001)
• New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe · 462 U.S. 324 (1983)
• National Farmers Union Insurance v. Crow Tribe of Indians · 471 U.S. 845 (1985)
• Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community · 572 U.S. 782 (2014)
• Bowen v. Public Agencies Opposed to Social Security Entrapment · 477 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co. · 554 U.S. 316 (2008)
• Iowa Mutual Insurance v. LaPlante · 480 U.S. 9 (1987)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. County of Kent · 510 U.S. 355 (1994)
• Duro v. Reina · 495 U.S. 676 (1990)
• United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation · 564 U.S. 162 (2011)
• Sporhase v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Douglas · 458 U.S. 941 (1982)

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).