Schlesinger, Secretary of Defense, et al. v. Ballard

Decided January 15, 1975. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-776 · 419 U.S. 498 (1975) · Cited 361 times

Holding

The challenged legislative classification is completely rational and does not violate the Due Process 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 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.

• Frontiero v. Richardson · 411 U.S. 677 (1973)
• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• Kahn v. Shevin · 416 U.S. 351 (1974)
• Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. · 406 U.S. 164 (1972)
• James v. Strange · 407 U.S. 128 (1972)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Orloff v. Willoughby · 345 U.S. 83 (1953)
• United States Ex Rel. Toth v. Quarles · 350 U.S. 11 (1955)
• Schneider v. Rusk · 377 U.S. 163 (1964)

Cited by

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

• Rostker v. Goldberg · 453 U.S. 57 (1981)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld · 420 U.S. 636 (1975)
• Califano v. Webster · 430 U.S. 313 (1977)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan · 458 U.S. 718 (1982)
• Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County · 450 U.S. 464 (1981)
• Parham v. Hughes · 441 U.S. 347 (1979)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Caban v. Mohammed · 441 U.S. 380 (1979)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Vance v. Bradley · 440 U.S. 93 (1979)
• JEB v. Alabama Ex Rel. TB · 511 U.S. 127 (1994)
• Greer v. Spock · 424 U.S. 828 (1976)
• Orr v. Orr · 440 U.S. 268 (1979)
• Mathews v. Lucas · 427 U.S. 495 (1976)
• Heckler v. Mathews · 465 U.S. 728 (1984)
• Loving v. United States · 517 U.S. 748 (1996)
• Stanton v. Stanton · 421 U.S. 7 (1975)
• Martinez Ex Rel. Morales v. Bynum · 461 U.S. 321 (1983)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1975). 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).