Mesa et al. v. California

Decided February 21, 1989. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1206 · 489 U.S. 121 (1989) · Cited 500 times

Holding

Federal officer removal under 1442(a) must be predicated upon averment of a federal defense.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Tennessee v. Davis · 100 U.S. 257 (1880)
• Willingham v. Morgan · 395 U.S. 402 (1969)
• Maryland v. Soper, Judge · 270 U.S. 9 (1926)
• Verlinden B. v. v. Central Bank of Nigeria · 461 U.S. 480 (1983)
• Mayor v. Cooper · 73 U.S. 247 (1868)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson · 478 U.S. 804 (1986)
• Califano v. Yamasaki · 442 U.S. 682 (1979)
• Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Mottley · 211 U.S. 149 (1908)
• Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
• Barr v. Matteo · 360 U.S. 564 (1959)
• Arizona v. Manypenny · 451 U.S. 232 (1981)
• Westfall v. Erwin · 484 U.S. 292 (1988)
• The Propeller Genesee Chief v. Fitzhugh · 53 U.S. 443 (1852)
• Howard v. Lyons · 360 U.S. 593 (1959)

Cited by

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

• Osborn v. Haley · 549 U.S. 225 (2007)
• International Primate Protection League v. Administrators of Tulane Educational Fund · 500 U.S. 72 (1991)
• Gutierrez De Martinez v. Lamagno · 515 U.S. 417 (1995)
• Clinton v. Jones · 520 U.S. 681 (1997)
• Watson v. Philip Morris Companies, Inc. · 551 U.S. 142 (2007)
• Jefferson County v. Acker · 527 U.S. 423 (1999)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).