Sosna v. Iowa et al.

Decided January 14, 1975. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-762 · 419 U.S. 393 (1975) · Cited 2,006 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 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.

• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County · 415 U.S. 250 (1974)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• O'Shea v. Littleton · 414 U.S. 488 (1974)
• Williams v. North Carolina · 325 U.S. 226 (1945)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Moore v. Ogilvie · 394 U.S. 814 (1969)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury · 323 U.S. 459 (1945)
• Golden v. Zwickler · 394 U.S. 103 (1969)
• Snyder v. Harris · 394 U.S. 332 (1969)
• Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance · 409 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Samuel Bailey v. Joe T. Patterson · 369 U.S. 31 (1962)
• Hall v. Beals · 396 U.S. 45 (1969)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Sherrer v. Sherrer · 334 U.S. 343 (1948)
• Rosario v. Rockefeller · 410 U.S. 752 (1973)
• Richardson v. Ramirez · 418 U.S. 24 (1974)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Medical Committee for Human Rights · 404 U.S. 403 (1972)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Stanley v. Illinois · 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin · 417 U.S. 156 (1974)
• Jenkins v. McKeithen · 395 U.S. 411 (1969)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)

Cited by

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

• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty · 445 U.S. 388 (1980)
• Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk · 569 U.S. 66 (2013)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• United States v. Sanchez-Gomez · 584 U.S. 381 (2018)
• Kremens v. Bartley · 431 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Board of School Comm'rs of Indianapolis v. Jacobs · 420 U.S. 128 (1975)
• Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla. · 457 U.S. 496 (1982)
• Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd. · 420 U.S. 592 (1975)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Zobel v. Williams · 457 U.S. 55 (1982)
• Attorney General of New York v. Soto-Lopez · 476 U.S. 898 (1986)
• Swisher v. Brady · 438 U.S. 204 (1978)
• Gerstein v. Pugh · 420 U.S. 103 (1975)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Deposit Guaranty National Bank v. Roper · 445 U.S. 326 (1980)
• Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez · 577 U.S. 153 (2016)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
• Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl · 570 U.S. 637 (2013)
• Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart · 427 U.S. 539 (1976)
• Weinstein v. Bradford · 423 U.S. 147 (1975)
• County of Riverside v. McLaughlin · 500 U.S. 44 (1991)
• Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division v. Craft · 436 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Saenz v. Roe · 526 U.S. 489 (1999)
• United Airlines, Inc. v. McDonald · 432 U.S. 385 (1977)
• Hooper v. Bernalillo County Assessor · 472 U.S. 612 (1985)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona · 520 U.S. 43 (1997)

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).