Miller, Director, Department of Children and Family Services of Illinois, et al. v. Youakim et al.

Decided February 22, 1979. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-742 · 440 U.S. 125 (1979) · Cited 199 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 8–0.

“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.

• Youakim v. Miller · 425 U.S. 231 (1976)
• King v. Smith · 392 U.S. 309 (1968)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• Burns v. Alcala · 420 U.S. 575 (1975)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Hagans v. Lavine · 415 U.S. 528 (1974)
• United States v. American Trucking Associations · 310 U.S. 534 (1940)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• New York State Department of Social Services v. Dublino · 413 U.S. 405 (1973)
• Investment Company Institute v. Camp · 401 U.S. 617 (1971)
• Townsend v. Swank · 404 U.S. 282 (1971)
• Carleson v. Remillard · 406 U.S. 598 (1972)
• Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp. · 439 U.S. 299 (1978)
• Quern v. Mandley · 436 U.S. 725 (1978)

Cited by

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

• Maine v. Thiboutot · 448 U.S. 1 (1980)
• Chapman v. Houston Welfare Rights Organization · 441 U.S. 600 (1979)
• Selective Service System v. Minnesota Public Interest Research Group · 468 U.S. 841 (1984)
• Pittston Coal Group v. Sebben · 488 U.S. 105 (1988)

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).