O'Connor v. Donaldson

Decided June 26, 1975. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-8 · 422 U.S. 563 (1975) · Cited 1,231 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.

• Jackson v. Indiana · 406 U.S. 715 (1972)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• McNeil v. Director, Patuxent Institution · 407 U.S. 245 (1972)
• In Re GAULT · 387 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts · 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
• Specht v. Patterson · 386 U.S. 605 (1967)
• Minnesota Ex Rel. Pearson v. Probate Court of Ramsey County · 309 U.S. 270 (1940)
• Greenwood v. United States · 350 U.S. 366 (1956)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Drope v. Missouri · 420 U.S. 162 (1975)
• Robinson v. California · 370 U.S. 660 (1962)
• United States v. Munsingwear, Inc. · 340 U.S. 36 (1950)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• McKeiver v. Pennsylvania · 403 U.S. 528 (1971)
• Coates v. City of Cincinnati · 402 U.S. 611 (1971)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Humphrey v. Cady · 405 U.S. 504 (1972)
• Baxstrom v. Herold · 383 U.S. 107 (1966)
• Powell v. Texas · 392 U.S. 514 (1968)
• Hawaii v. Standard Oil Co. of Cal. · 405 U.S. 251 (1972)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Olsen v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Western Reference & Bond Assn., Inc. · 313 U.S. 236 (1941)

Cited by

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

• Jones v. United States · 463 U.S. 354 (1983)
• Foucha v. Louisiana · 504 U.S. 71 (1992)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Parham v. J. R. · 442 U.S. 584 (1979)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• West v. Atkins · 487 U.S. 42 (1988)
• Cooper v. Oklahoma · 517 U.S. 348 (1996)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• County of Los Angeles v. Davis · 440 U.S. 625 (1979)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• Anderson v. Creighton · 483 U.S. 635 (1987)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Zinermon v. Burch · 494 U.S. 113 (1990)
• Addington v. Texas · 441 U.S. 418 (1979)
• Gomez v. Toledo · 446 U.S. 635 (1980)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• Vitek v. Jones · 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
• Washington v. Harper · 494 U.S. 210 (1990)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• Bowers v. Hardwick · 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
• Rehberg v. Paulk · 566 U.S. 356 (2012)
• United States v. Stanley · 483 U.S. 669 (1987)
• Mills v. Rogers · 457 U.S. 291 (1982)
• Caniglia v. Strom · 593 U.S. 194 (2021)

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).