Safford Unified School District #1, et Al.v. April Redding

Decided June 25, 2009. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 08-479 · 557 U.S. 364 (2009) · Cited 365 times

Holding

Because punitive damages have long been an accepted remedy under general maritime law, and because neither Miles v.

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.

• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• United States v. Cortez · 449 U.S. 411 (1981)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• United States v. Ross · 456 U.S. 798 (1982)
• United States v. Arvizu · 534 U.S. 266 (2002)
• Wilson v. Layne · 526 U.S. 603 (1999)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Adams v. Williams · 407 U.S. 143 (1972)
• Atwater v. City of Lago Vista · 532 U.S. 318 (2001)
• Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls · 536 U.S. 822 (2002)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Pearson v. Callahan · 555 U.S. 223 (2009)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Sandin v. Conner · 515 U.S. 472 (1995)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Aguilar v. Texas · 378 U.S. 108 (1964)
• Ornelas v. United States · 517 U.S. 690 (1996)
• Spinelli v. United States · 393 U.S. 410 (1969)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Hope v. Pelzer · 536 U.S. 730 (2002)
• United States v. Sokolow · 490 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Collins v. City of Harker Heights · 503 U.S. 115 (1992)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• Horton v. California · 496 U.S. 128 (1990)
• Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn. · 489 U.S. 602 (1989)
• Florida v. Jimeno · 500 U.S. 248 (1991)
• Griffin v. Wisconsin · 483 U.S. 868 (1987)

Cited by

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

• Florida v. Harris · 568 U.S. 237 (2013)
• Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington · 566 U.S. 318 (2012)

Official text

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

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). 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).