Newman-Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo-Larrain et al.

Decided June 12, 1989. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-774 · 490 U.S. 826 (1989) · Cited 1,435 times

Holding

A court of appeals has the authority to grant a motion to dismiss a dispensable nondiverse party and need not remand the case to the district court for dismissal in that court's discretion.

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 7–2.

“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.

• Mullaney v. Anderson · 342 U.S. 415 (1952)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Strawbridge v. Curtiss · 7 U.S. 267 (1806)
• State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Tashire · 386 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Fourco Glass Co. v. Transmirra Products Corp. · 353 U.S. 222 (1957)
• Smith v. Sperling · 354 U.S. 91 (1957)
• Norton v. Larney · 266 U.S. 511 (1925)
• Robertson v. Cease · 97 U.S. 646 (1878)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers, Local 283 v. Scofield · 382 U.S. 205 (1965)
• Brown v. Keene · 33 U.S. 112 (1834)
• ROGERS Et Al. v. PAUL Et Al. · 382 U.S. 198 (1965)

Cited by

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

• Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L. P. · 541 U.S. 567 (2004)
• Caterpillar Inc. v. Lewis · 519 U.S. 61 (1996)
• Keene Corp. v. United States · 508 U.S. 200 (1993)
• Rockwell International Corp. v. United States · 549 U.S. 457 (2007)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc. · 545 U.S. 546 (2005)
• Royal Canin U. S. A. v. Wullschleger · 604 U.S. 22 (2025)
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections v. Schacht · 524 U.S. 381 (1998)
• Wachovia Bank, National Ass'n v. Schmidt · 546 U.S. 303 (2006)

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).