Shirley W. Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs et al.

Decided December 3, 1990. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-5867 · 498 U.S. 89 (1990) · Cited 3,247 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–1.

“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.

• Soriano v. United States · 352 U.S. 270 (1957)
• Library of Congress v. Shaw · 478 U.S. 310 (1986)
• Bowen v. City of New York · 476 U.S. 467 (1986)
• Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 421 U.S. 454 (1975)
• Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 455 U.S. 385 (1982)
• United States v. Mitchell · 445 U.S. 535 (1980)
• Brown v. General Services Administration · 425 U.S. 820 (1976)
• United States v. King · 395 U.S. 1 (1969)
• Link v. Wabash Railroad · 370 U.S. 626 (1962)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• United States v. Kubrick · 444 U.S. 111 (1979)
• American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah · 414 U.S. 538 (1974)
• Baldwin County Welcome Center v. Brown · 466 U.S. 147 (1984)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht · 327 U.S. 392 (1946)
• Burnett v. New York Central Railroad · 380 U.S. 424 (1965)
• Block v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Board of University & School Lands · 461 U.S. 273 (1983)
• Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker · 462 U.S. 345 (1983)
• Lehman v. Nakshian · 453 U.S. 156 (1981)
• United States v. Locke · 471 U.S. 84 (1985)
• Love v. Pullman Co. · 404 U.S. 522 (1972)
• Welch v. Texas Department of Highways & Public Transportation · 483 U.S. 468 (1987)
• Glus v. Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal · 359 U.S. 231 (1959)
• Hallstrom v. Tillamook County · 493 U.S. 20 (1989)
• United States v. Mottaz · 476 U.S. 834 (1986)
• Smith v. Ayer · 101 U.S. 320 (1880)

Cited by

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

• John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)
• Scarborough v. Principi · 541 U.S. 401 (2004)
• United States v. Kwai Fun Wong · 575 U.S. 402 (2015)
• Sebelius v. Auburn Regional Medical Center · 568 U.S. 145 (2013)
• Wilkins v. United States · 598 U.S. 152 (2023)
• Raygor v. Regents of the University of Minnesota · 534 U.S. 533 (2002)
• United States v. Brockamp · 519 U.S. 347 (1997)
• California Public Employees' Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc. · 582 U.S. 497 (2017)
• Pace v. DiGuglielmo · 544 U.S. 408 (2005)
• Bowles v. Russell · 551 U.S. 205 (2007)
• McQuiggin v. Perkins · 569 U.S. 383 (2013)
• Reno v. Catholic Social Services, Inc. · 509 U.S. 43 (1993)
• Menominee Indian Tribe of Wis. v. United States · 577 U.S. 250 (2016)
• Henderson v. United States · 517 U.S. 654 (1996)
• Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez · 572 U.S. 1 (2014)
• Young v. United States · 535 U.S. 43 (2002)
• Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co. · 571 U.S. 99 (2013)
• Lane v. Pena · 518 U.S. 187 (1996)
• Maples v. Thomas · 565 U.S. 266 (2012)
• Franconia Associates v. United States · 536 U.S. 129 (2002)
• Boechler v. Commissioner · 596 U.S. 199 (2022)
• Arellano v. McDonough · 598 U.S. 1 (2023)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Martinez v. Ryan · 566 U.S. 1 (2012)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Lampf, Pleva, Lipkind, Prupis & Petigrow v. Gilbertson · 501 U.S. 350 (1991)
• Ardestani v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 502 U.S. 129 (1991)
• United States v. Beggerly · 524 U.S. 38 (1998)
• Carlisle v. United States · 517 U.S. 416 (1996)
• Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 284 (2012)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).