Morton, Secretary of the Interior v. Ruiz et Ux.

Decided February 20, 1974. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-1052 · 415 U.S. 199 (1974) · Cited 1,225 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 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.

• Seminole Nation v. United States · 316 U.S. 286 (1942)
• Skidmore v. Swift & Co. · 323 U.S. 134 (1944)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp. · 332 U.S. 194 (1947)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• Service v. Dulles · 354 U.S. 363 (1957)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Wyman-Gordon Co. · 394 U.S. 759 (1969)
• Vitarelli v. Seaton · 359 U.S. 535 (1959)
• Jefferson v. Hackney · 406 U.S. 535 (1972)
• Dixon v. United States · 381 U.S. 68 (1965)
• Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co. · 414 U.S. 86 (1973)
• Squire v. Capoeman · 351 U.S. 1 (1956)
• Federal Maritime Commission v. Seatrain Lines, Inc. · 411 U.S. 726 (1973)
• United States v. Wise · 370 U.S. 405 (1962)
• Board of County Commissioners v. Seber · 318 U.S. 705 (1943)

Cited by

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

• Chrysler Corp. v. Brown · 441 U.S. 281 (1979)
• Lincoln v. Vigil · 508 U.S. 182 (1993)
• United States v. Caceres · 440 U.S. 741 (1979)
• Antoine v. Washington · 420 U.S. 194 (1975)
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip · 430 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Coke · 551 U.S. 158 (2007)
• Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Pueblo of Santa Ana · 472 U.S. 237 (1985)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• Christensen v. Harris County · 529 U.S. 576 (2000)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez · 436 U.S. 49 (1978)
• Barnhart v. Walton · 535 U.S. 212 (2002)
• Schweiker v. Hansen · 450 U.S. 785 (1981)
• Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation · 447 U.S. 134 (1980)
• Batterton v. Francis · 432 U.S. 416 (1977)
• Negusie v. Holder · 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc. v. Public Util. Dist. No. 1 of Snohomish Cty. · 554 U.S. 527 (2008)
• United States v. Home Concrete & Supply, LLC · 566 U.S. 478 (2012)

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).