Rice, Director, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control of California v. Rehner

Decided July 1, 1983. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-401 · 463 U.S. 713 (1983) · Cited 224 times

Holding

California may properly require respondent to obtain a state license in order to sell liquor for off-premises consumption.

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 6–3.

“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.

• United States v. Mazurie · 419 U.S. 544 (1975)
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
• Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation · 447 U.S. 134 (1980)
• Warren Trading Post Co. v. Arizona Tax Commission · 380 U.S. 685 (1965)
• White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker · 448 U.S. 136 (1980)
• Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation · 425 U.S. 463 (1976)
• Bryan v. Itasca County · 426 U.S. 373 (1976)
• Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones · 411 U.S. 145 (1973)
• Organized Village of Kake v. Egan · 369 U.S. 60 (1962)
• Ramah Navajo School Bd., Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of NM · 458 U.S. 832 (1982)
• Central MacHinery Co. v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 448 U.S. 160 (1980)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• United States v. Wheeler · 435 U.S. 313 (1978)
• Williams v. Lee · 358 U.S. 217 (1959)
• North Haven Board of Education v. Bell · 456 U.S. 512 (1982)
• DeCoteau v. District County Court for the Tenth Judicial District · 420 U.S. 425 (1975)
• Environmental Protection Agency v. California Ex Rel. State Water Resources Control Board · 426 U.S. 200 (1976)
• New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe · 462 U.S. 324 (1983)
• Andrus v. Glover Construction Co. · 446 U.S. 608 (1980)
• Pennsylvania v. Nelson · 350 U.S. 497 (1956)
• Carpenter v. Shaw · 280 U.S. 363 (1930)
• Hancock v. Train · 426 U.S. 167 (1976)
• Draper v. United States · 164 U.S. 240 (1896)
• United States v. McGowan · 302 U.S. 535 (1938)

Cited by

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

• California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians · 480 U.S. 202 (1987)
• Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation v. Wold Engineering, P. C. · 476 U.S. 877 (1986)
• National Farmers Union Insurance v. Crow Tribe of Indians · 471 U.S. 845 (1985)
• Nevada v. Hicks · 533 U.S. 353 (2001)
• Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla. · 498 U.S. 505 (1991)
• Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe of Indians · 471 U.S. 759 (1985)
• Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico · 490 U.S. 163 (1989)
• North Dakota v. United States · 495 U.S. 423 (1990)
• BRENDALE v. CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS OF THE YAKIMA INDIAN NATION Et Al. · 492 U.S. 408 (1989)
• South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, Inc. · 476 U.S. 498 (1986)
• Department of Taxation and Finance of NY v. Milhelm Attea & Bros. · 512 U.S. 61 (1994)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).