Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co.

Decided June 15, 1989. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1241 · 491 U.S. 1 (1989) · Cited 593 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 5–4.

“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.

• Employees of Department of Public Health v. Department of Public Health · 411 U.S. 279 (1973)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Welch v. Texas Department of Highways & Public Transportation · 483 U.S. 468 (1987)
• Parden v. Terminal Railway of Alabama State Docks Department · 377 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Atascadero State Hospital v. Scanlon · 473 U.S. 234 (1985)
• Quern v. Jordan · 440 U.S. 332 (1979)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey · 437 U.S. 617 (1978)
• United States v. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
• Green v. Mansour · 474 U.S. 64 (1985)
• Ex Parte State of New York, No. 1 · 256 U.S. 490 (1921)
• Principality of Monaco v. Mississippi · 292 U.S. 313 (1934)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• Countyof Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of NY · 470 U.S. 226 (1985)
• United States v. California · 332 U.S. 19 (1947)
• United States v. Mississippi · 380 U.S. 128 (1965)
• Northwest Central Pipeline Corp. v. State Corporation Comm'n of Kan. · 489 U.S. 493 (1989)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• Harris v. Reed · 489 U.S. 255 (1989)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• Owen Equipment & Erection Co. v. Kroger · 437 U.S. 365 (1978)
• United States v. Mitchell · 445 U.S. 535 (1980)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Cohens v. Virginia · 19 U.S. 264 (1821)

Cited by

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

• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board · 527 U.S. 666 (1999)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• Hoffman v. Connecticut Department of Income Maintenance · 492 U.S. 96 (1989)
• Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety · 597 U.S. 580 (2022)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Arizona v. Fulminante · 499 U.S. 279 (1991)
• Idaho v. Coeur D'Alene Tribe of Idaho · 521 U.S. 261 (1997)
• United States v. Bestfoods · 524 U.S. 51 (1998)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney · 495 U.S. 299 (1990)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank · 527 U.S. 627 (1999)
• American National Red Cross v. S. G. · 505 U.S. 247 (1992)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Allied-Bruce Terminix Cos., Inc. v. Dobson · 513 U.S. 265 (1995)
• Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation · 513 U.S. 30 (1994)
• Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak · 501 U.S. 775 (1991)
• Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs · 538 U.S. 721 (2003)
• Chisom v. Roemer · 501 U.S. 380 (1991)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 495 U.S. 33 (1990)
• Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service v. Kirtz · 601 U.S. 42 (2024)

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).