Perry et al. v. Sindermann

Decided June 29, 1972. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-36 · 408 U.S. 593 (1972) · Cited 5,238 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 5–3.

“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.

• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co. · 363 U.S. 574 (1960)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Baggett v. Bullitt · 377 U.S. 360 (1964)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• Cramp v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange Cty. · 368 U.S. 278 (1961)
• Elfbrandt v. Russell · 384 U.S. 11 (1966)
• Whitehill v. Elkins · 389 U.S. 54 (1967)

Cited by

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

• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• Jago v. Van Curen · 454 U.S. 14 (1981)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management Dist. · 570 U.S. 595 (2013)
• O'Hare Truck Service, Inc. v. City of Northlake · 518 U.S. 712 (1996)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• O'Bannon v. Town Court Nursing Center · 447 U.S. 773 (1980)
• Rankin v. McPherson · 483 U.S. 378 (1987)
• Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality & Reform · 431 U.S. 816 (1977)
• Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing · 474 U.S. 214 (1985)
• Dolan v. City of Tigard · 512 U.S. 374 (1994)
• Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District · 439 U.S. 410 (1979)
• Codd v. Velger · 429 U.S. 624 (1977)
• City of Kenosha v. Bruno · 412 U.S. 507 (1973)
• Kerry v. Din · 576 U.S. 86 (2015)
• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc. · 570 U.S. 205 (2013)
• Bishop v. Wood · 426 U.S. 341 (1976)
• Davis v. Scherer · 468 U.S. 183 (1984)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Vitek v. Jones · 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
• Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales · 545 U.S. 748 (2005)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• California v. LaRue · 409 U.S. 109 (1972)
• 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island · 517 U.S. 484 (1996)
• Barry v. Barchi · 443 U.S. 55 (1979)

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).