Rutan et al. v. Republican Party of Illinois et al.

Decided June 21, 1990. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-1872 · 497 U.S. 62 (1990) · Cited 1,236 times

Holding

The rule of Elrod and Branti extends to promotion, transfer, recall, and hiring decisions based on party affiliation and support, and petitioners and cross-respondents have stated claims upon which relief may be granted.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin · 495 U.S. 604 (1990)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong · 426 U.S. 88 (1976)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• O'CONNOR v. Ortega · 480 U.S. 709 (1987)
• Bowers v. Hardwick · 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Michael H. v. Gerald D. · 491 U.S. 110 (1989)
• Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. · 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
• Kelley v. Johnson · 425 U.S. 238 (1976)
• Brown v. Glines · 444 U.S. 348 (1980)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)

Cited by

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

• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• Rita v. United States · 551 U.S. 338 (2007)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management Dist. · 570 U.S. 595 (2013)
• Heffernan v. City of Paterson · 578 U.S. 266 (2016)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• O'Hare Truck Service, Inc. v. City of Northlake · 518 U.S. 712 (1996)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture · 553 U.S. 591 (2008)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party · 520 U.S. 351 (1997)
• Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western NY · 519 U.S. 357 (1997)
• Houston Community College System v. Wilson · 595 U.S. 468 (2022)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1990). 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).