Panagis Vartelas, Petitioner v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General

Decided March 28, 2012. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 10-1211 · 566 U.S. 257 (2012) · Cited 228 times

Holding

The impact of Vartelas’ brief travel abroad on his permanent resident status is determined not by IIRIRA, but by the legal regime in force at the time of his conviction.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Rosenberg v. Fleuti · 374 U.S. 449 (1963)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr · 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
• Hughes Aircraft Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Schumer · 520 U.S. 939 (1997)
• Fernandez-Vargas v. Gonzales · 548 U.S. 30 (2006)
• Chew Heong v. United States · 112 U.S. 536 (1884)
• Padilla v. Kentucky · 559 U.S. 356 (2010)
• Landon v. Plasencia · 459 U.S. 21 (1982)
• Judulang v. Holder · 565 U.S. 42 (2011)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Smith v. Doe · 538 U.S. 84 (2003)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• United States Trust Co. of NY v. New Jersey · 431 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Witte v. United States · 515 U.S. 389 (1995)
• Clark v. Martinez · 543 U.S. 371 (2005)
• Gryger v. Burke · 334 U.S. 728 (1948)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• Kent v. Dulles · 357 U.S. 116 (1958)
• Kelo v. City of New London · 545 U.S. 469 (2005)
• Martin v. Hadix · 527 U.S. 343 (1999)
• United States Ex Rel. Volpe v. Smith · 289 U.S. 422 (1933)

Cited by

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

• Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo · 603 U.S. 369 (2024)
• West Virginia v. EPA · 597 U.S. 697 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). 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).