R. Gordon Darby, et al. v. Henry G. Cisneros, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, et al.

Decided June 21, 1993. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-2045 · 509 U.S. 137 (1993) · Cited 587 times

Holding

Federal courts do not have the authority to require a plaintiff to exhaust available administrative remedies before seeking judicial review under the APA, where neither the relevant statute nor agency rules specifically mandate exhaustion as a prerequisite to judicial review.

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 9–0.

“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.

• McCarthy v. Madigan · 503 U.S. 140 (1992)
• Bowen v. Massachusetts · 487 U.S. 879 (1988)
• Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City · 473 U.S. 172 (1985)
• Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 435 U.S. 519 (1978)
• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation v. LTV Corp. · 496 U.S. 633 (1990)
• Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers · 482 U.S. 270 (1987)
• United States v. Texas · 507 U.S. 529 (1993)
• Steadman v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 450 U.S. 91 (1981)
• Shaughnessy v. Pedreiro · 349 U.S. 48 (1955)
• Prendergast v. New York Telephone Co. · 262 U.S. 43 (1923)
• Banton v. Belt Line Railway Corp. · 268 U.S. 413 (1925)

Cited by

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

• Trump v. J. G. G. · 604 U.S. 670 (2025)

Official text

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

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Harry Andrew Blackmun’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). 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).