Polk County et al. v. Dodson

Decided December 14, 1981. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-824 · 454 U.S. 312 (1981) · Cited 4,924 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 8–1.

“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.

• Estelle v. Gamble · 429 U.S. 97 (1976)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• O'Connor v. Donaldson · 422 U.S. 563 (1975)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority · 365 U.S. 715 (1961)
• Ferri v. Ackerman · 444 U.S. 193 (1979)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Parratt v. Taylor · 451 U.S. 527 (1981)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• United States v. Price · 383 U.S. 787 (1966)
• Anders v. California · 386 U.S. 738 (1967)
• Haines v. Kerner · 404 U.S. 519 (1972)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Flagg Bros., Inc. v. Brooks · 436 U.S. 149 (1978)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
• Griffin v. Maryland · 378 U.S. 130 (1964)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• Powell v. Alabama · 287 U.S. 45 (1932)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Holloway v. Arkansas · 435 U.S. 475 (1978)
• Bradley v. Fisher · 80 U.S. 335 (1872)
• Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis · 407 U.S. 163 (1972)
• In Re Griffiths · 413 U.S. 717 (1973)
• Alexander v. \Americans United\" Inc." · 416 U.S. 752 (1974)

Cited by

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

• Georgia v. McCollum · 505 U.S. 42 (1992)
• West v. Atkins · 487 U.S. 42 (1988)
• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co. · 457 U.S. 922 (1982)
• McCoy v. Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, District 1 · 486 U.S. 429 (1988)
• Vermont v. Brillon · 556 U.S. 81 (2009)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. · 531 U.S. 288 (2001)
• Penson v. Ohio · 488 U.S. 75 (1988)
• City of Oklahoma v. Tuttle · 471 U.S. 808 (1985)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• Briscoe v. LaHue · 460 U.S. 325 (1983)
• Rendell-Baker v. Kohn · 457 U.S. 830 (1982)
• Tower v. Glover · 467 U.S. 914 (1984)
• Kentucky v. Graham · 473 U.S. 159 (1985)
• City of Canton v. Harris · 489 U.S. 378 (1989)
• United States v. Cronic · 466 U.S. 648 (1984)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Pennsylvania v. Finley · 481 U.S. 551 (1987)
• City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik · 485 U.S. 112 (1988)
• Smith v. Robbins · 528 U.S. 259 (2000)
• Nix v. Williams · 467 U.S. 431 (1984)
• Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
• National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Tarkanian · 488 U.S. 179 (1988)
• Perry v. Leeke · 488 U.S. 272 (1989)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• City of Springfield v. Kibbe · 480 U.S. 257 (1987)
• Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
• Lankford v. Idaho · 500 U.S. 110 (1991)
• Lindke v. Freed · 601 U.S. 187 (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).