Roy Romer, Governor of Colorado, et al. v. Richard G. Evans et al.

Decided May 20, 1996. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-1039 · 517 U.S. 620 (1996) · Cited 1,427 times

Holding

Amendment 2 violates the Equal Protection Clause.

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.

• Bowers v. Hardwick · 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
• Civil Rights Cases · 109 U.S. 3 (1883)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Richardson v. Ramirez · 418 U.S. 24 (1974)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Heller v. Doe Ex Rel. Doe · 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• City of New Orleans v. Dukes · 427 U.S. 297 (1976)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• J. E. B. v. Alabama ex rel. T. B. · 511 U.S. 127 (1994)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• F. S. Royster Guano Co. v. Virginia · 253 U.S. 412 (1920)
• United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz · 449 U.S. 166 (1980)
• Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. · 515 U.S. 557 (1995)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York · 336 U.S. 106 (1949)
• Reitman v. Mulkey · 387 U.S. 369 (1967)
• New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer · 440 U.S. 568 (1979)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)

Cited by

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

• Lawrence v. Texas · 539 U.S. 558 (2003)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
• United States v. Skrmetti · 605 U.S. 495 (2025)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Hollingsworth v. Perry · 570 U.S. 693 (2013)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Obergefell v. Hodges · 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• City of Chicago v. Morales · 527 U.S. 41 (1999)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• Locke v. Davey · 540 U.S. 712 (2004)
• Vacco v. Quill · 521 U.S. 793 (1997)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). 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).