South Carolina v. Baker, Secretary of the Treasury

Decided April 20, 1988. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94 ORIG · 485 U.S. 505 (1988) · Cited 235 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.

• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. · 157 U.S. 429 (1895)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)
• Graves v. New York Ex Rel. O'Keefe · 306 U.S. 466 (1939)
• New York v. United States · 326 U.S. 572 (1946)
• Helvering v. Gerhardt · 304 U.S. 405 (1938)
• Indian Motocycle Co. v. United States · 283 U.S. 570 (1931)
• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Panhandle Oil Co. v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Knox · 277 U.S. 218 (1928)
• James v. Dravo Contracting Co. · 302 U.S. 134 (1937)
• Gillespie v. Oklahoma · 257 U.S. 501 (1922)
• Helvering v. Mountain Producers Corp. · 303 U.S. 376 (1938)
• Memphis Bank & Trust Co. v. Garner · 459 U.S. 392 (1983)
• Metcalf & Eddy v. Mitchell · 269 U.S. 514 (1926)
• Alabama v. King & Boozer · 314 U.S. 1 (1941)
• United States v. City of Detroit · 355 U.S. 466 (1958)
• United States v. New Mexico · 455 U.S. 720 (1982)
• South Carolina v. Regan · 465 U.S. 367 (1984)
• Mayo v. United States · 319 U.S. 441 (1943)
• United States v. County of Fresno · 429 U.S. 452 (1977)
• Dobbins v. Commissioners of Erie County · 41 U.S. 435 (1842)
• Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co. · 449 U.S. 456 (1981)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad · 240 U.S. 1 (1916)
• South Dakota v. Dole · 483 U.S. 203 (1987)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming · 460 U.S. 226 (1983)
• Willcutts v. Bunn · 282 U.S. 216 (1931)
• Minor v. United States · 396 U.S. 87 (1969)
• Helvering v. Powers · 293 U.S. 214 (1934)
• United States v. Tax Comm'n of Miss. · 421 U.S. 599 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico · 490 U.S. 163 (1989)
• North Dakota v. United States · 495 U.S. 423 (1990)
• Gregory v. Ashcroft · 501 U.S. 452 (1991)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• Reno v. Condon · 528 U.S. 141 (2000)
• Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
• Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn. · 584 U.S. 453 (2018)
• United States v. Washington · 596 U.S. 832 (2022)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. · 487 U.S. 500 (1988)
• Harper v. Virginia Department of Taxation · 509 U.S. 86 (1993)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• West Lynn Creamery, Inc. v. Healy · 512 U.S. 186 (1994)
• Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).