O'Connor et al. v. Ortega

Decided March 31, 1987. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-530 · 480 U.S. 709 (1987) · Cited 1,069 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

“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.

• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Mancusi v. DeForte · 392 U.S. 364 (1968)
• Oliver v. United States · 466 U.S. 170 (1984)
• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. · 436 U.S. 307 (1978)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• United States v. Place · 462 U.S. 696 (1983)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• United States v. Jacobsen · 466 U.S. 109 (1984)
• Davis v. Scherer · 468 U.S. 183 (1984)
• Hoffa v. United States · 385 U.S. 293 (1966)
• Colorado v. Bertine · 479 U.S. 367 (1987)
• Michigan v. Tyler · 436 U.S. 499 (1978)
• Almeida-Sanchez v. United States · 413 U.S. 266 (1973)
• California v. Carney · 471 U.S. 386 (1985)
• Illinois v. Lafayette · 462 U.S. 640 (1983)
• Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York · 442 U.S. 319 (1979)
• United States v. Fruehauf · 365 U.S. 146 (1961)

Cited by

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

• Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn. · 489 U.S. 602 (1989)
• National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab · 489 U.S. 656 (1989)
• Griffin v. Wisconsin · 483 U.S. 868 (1987)
• Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture · 553 U.S. 591 (2008)
• Minnesota v. Carter · 525 U.S. 83 (1998)
• California v. Acevedo · 500 U.S. 565 (1991)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• California v. Greenwood · 486 U.S. 35 (1988)
• Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton · 515 U.S. 646 (1995)
• Carpenter v. United States · 585 U.S. 296 (2018)
• Soldal v. Cook County · 506 U.S. 56 (1992)
• New York v. Burger · 482 U.S. 691 (1987)
• Ferguson v. City of Charleston · 532 U.S. 67 (2001)
• Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri · 564 U.S. 379 (2011)
• California v. Rooney · 483 U.S. 307 (1987)

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).