Randall C. Scarborough v. Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Decided May 3, 2004. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-1657 · 541 U.S. 401 (2004) · Cited 692 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 7–2.

“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.

• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Becker v. Montgomery · 532 U.S. 757 (2001)
• Edelman v. Lynchburg College · 535 U.S. 106 (2002)
• Commissioner, Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Jean · 496 U.S. 154 (1990)
• Franconia Associates v. United States · 536 U.S. 129 (2002)
• Torres v. Oakland Scavenger Co. · 487 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Pierce v. Underwood · 487 U.S. 552 (1988)
• Kontrick v. Ryan · 540 U.S. 443 (2004)
• Ardestani v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 502 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Foman v. Davis · 371 U.S. 178 (1962)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Smith v. Barry · 502 U.S. 244 (1992)
• Lehman v. Nakshian · 453 U.S. 156 (1981)
• Library of Congress v. Shaw · 478 U.S. 310 (1986)
• Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Wulf · 226 U.S. 570 (1913)
• New York Central & Hudson River Railroad v. Kinney · 260 U.S. 340 (1922)
• Seaboard Air Line Railway v. Renn · 241 U.S. 290 (1916)

Cited by

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

• Bowles v. Russell · 551 U.S. 205 (2007)
• John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)
• Manrique v. United States · 581 U.S. 116 (2017)
• Wilkins v. United States · 598 U.S. 152 (2023)
• Astrue v. Ratliff · 560 U.S. 586 (2010)
• Henderson v. Shinseki · 562 U.S. 428 (2011)
• Kircher v. Putnam Funds Trust · 547 U.S. 633 (2006)
• Fort Bend County v. Davis · 587 U.S. 541 (2019)
• MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC · 598 U.S. 288 (2023)
• Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp. · 546 U.S. 500 (2006)
• Rumsfeld v. Padilla · 542 U.S. 426 (2004)
• Eberhart v. United States · 546 U.S. 12 (2005)
• Sebelius v. Auburn Regional Medical Center · 568 U.S. 145 (2013)
• Richlin Security Service Co. v. Chertoff · 553 U.S. 571 (2008)
• United States v. Kwai Fun Wong · 575 U.S. 402 (2015)
• Parrish v. United States · 605 U.S. 376 (2025)

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).