Pulliam, Magistrate for the County of Culpeper, Virginia v. Allen et al.

Decided May 14, 1984. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-1432 · 466 U.S. 522 (1984) · Cited 857 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.

• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Bradley v. Fisher · 80 U.S. 335 (1872)
• Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. · 446 U.S. 719 (1980)
• Stump v. Sparkman · 435 U.S. 349 (1978)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)
• O'Shea v. Littleton · 414 U.S. 488 (1974)
• Blum v. Stenson · 465 U.S. 886 (1984)
• Gerstein v. Pugh · 420 U.S. 103 (1975)
• Tenney v. Brandhove · 341 U.S. 367 (1951)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• Ex Parte Fahey · 332 U.S. 258 (1947)
• Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Kerr v. United States Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of Cal. · 426 U.S. 394 (1976)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Beacon Theatres, Inc. v. Westover · 359 U.S. 500 (1959)
• Will v. United States · 389 U.S. 90 (1967)
• Roche v. Evaporated Milk Assn. · 319 U.S. 21 (1943)
• Bankers Life & Casualty Co. v. Holland · 346 U.S. 379 (1953)
• La Buy v. Howes Leather Co. · 352 U.S. 249 (1957)
• Leeke v. Timmerman · 454 U.S. 83 (1981)
• Boyle v. Landry · 401 U.S. 77 (1971)
• Fenner v. Boykin · 271 U.S. 240 (1926)

Cited by

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

• Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson · 595 U.S. 30 (2021)
• Burns v. Reed · 500 U.S. 478 (1991)
• Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
• Mireles v. Waco · 502 U.S. 9 (1991)
• Filarsky v. Delia · 566 U.S. 377 (2012)
• Tower v. Glover · 467 U.S. 914 (1984)
• Kentucky v. Graham · 473 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Forrester v. White · 484 U.S. 219 (1988)
• Hewitt v. Helms · 482 U.S. 755 (1987)
• Wyatt v. Cole · 504 U.S. 158 (1992)
• Rehberg v. Paulk · 566 U.S. 356 (2012)
• Town of Newton v. Rumery · 480 U.S. 386 (1987)

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).