Randy G. Spencer v. Mike Kemna, Superintendent, Western Missouri Correctional Center, et al.

Decided March 3, 1998. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 96-7171 · 523 U.S. 1 (1998) · Cited 3,515 times

Holding

The expiration of petitioner’s sentence has caused his petition to be moot because it no longer presents an Article III case or controversy.

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 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.

• Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
• Lane v. Williams · 455 U.S. 624 (1982)
• Sibron v. New York · 392 U.S. 40 (1968)
• Carafas v. LaVallee · 391 U.S. 234 (1968)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Paul v. Davis · 424 U.S. 693 (1976)
• Benton v. Maryland · 395 U.S. 784 (1969)
• Evitts v. Lucey · 469 U.S. 387 (1985)
• Edwards v. Balisok · 520 U.S. 641 (1997)
• Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp. · 494 U.S. 472 (1990)
• Pollard v. United States · 352 U.S. 354 (1957)
• Fiswick v. United States · 329 U.S. 211 (1946)
• St. Pierre v. United States · 319 U.S. 41 (1943)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• O'Shea v. Littleton · 414 U.S. 488 (1974)
• United States v. Morgan · 346 U.S. 502 (1954)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Pennsylvania v. Mimms · 434 U.S. 106 (1977)
• Minnesota v. Dickerson · 508 U.S. 366 (1993)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• Maleng v. Cook · 490 U.S. 488 (1989)
• Murphy v. Hunt · 455 U.S. 478 (1982)
• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. · 497 U.S. 1 (1990)
• Weinstein v. Bradford · 423 U.S. 147 (1975)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Juvenile Male · 564 U.S. 261 (2011)
• Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States · 579 U.S. 162 (2016)
• Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk · 569 U.S. 66 (2013)
• Davis v. Federal Election Commission · 554 U.S. 724 (2008)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. · 551 U.S. 587 (2007)
• United States v. Sanchez-Gomez · 584 U.S. 381 (2018)
• FBI v. Fikre · 601 U.S. 234 (2024)
• Muhammad v. Close · 540 U.S. 749 (2004)
• Clinton v. City of New York · 524 U.S. 417 (1998)
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. · 528 U.S. 167 (2000)
• Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski · 592 U.S. 279 (2021)
• City News & Novelty, Inc. v. City of Waukesha · 531 U.S. 278 (2001)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1998). 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).