Sampson, Administrator, General Services Administration, et al. v. Murray

Decided February 19, 1974. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-403 · 415 U.S. 61 (1974) · Cited 1,904 times

Holding

While the District Court is not totally without authority to grant interim injunctive relief to a discharged Government employee, nevertheless under the standards that must govern the issuance of such relief the District Court's issuance of the temporary injunctive relief here cannot be sustained.

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.

• Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 316 U.S. 4 (1942)
• Service v. Dulles · 354 U.S. 363 (1957)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Dean Foods Co. · 384 U.S. 597 (1966)
• Arrow Transportation Co. v. Southern Railway Co. · 372 U.S. 658 (1963)
• Keim v. United States · 177 U.S. 290 (1900)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Beacon Theatres, Inc. v. Westover · 359 U.S. 500 (1959)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Mayo v. Lakeland Highlands Canning Co. · 309 U.S. 310 (1940)
• Parsons v. United States · 167 U.S. 324 (1897)

Cited by

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

• Arnett v. Kennedy · 416 U.S. 134 (1974)
• Department of Education v. California · 604 U.S. 650 (2025)
• United States v. New York Telephone Co. · 434 U.S. 159 (1977)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• United States v. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
• Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo · 456 U.S. 305 (1982)
• Bush v. Lucas · 462 U.S. 367 (1983)
• Webster v. Doe · 486 U.S. 592 (1988)
• National Farmers Union Insurance v. Crow Tribe of Indians · 471 U.S. 845 (1985)
• Abbott v. Perez · 585 U.S. 579 (2018)
• United States v. Texas · 599 U.S. 670 (2023)
• United States v. Hopkins · 427 U.S. 123 (1976)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1974). 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).