South Dakota v. Dole, Secretary of Transportation

Decided June 23, 1987. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-260 · 483 U.S. 203 (1987) · Cited 678 times

Holding

Even if Congress, in view of the Twenty-first Amendment, might lack the power to impose directly a national minimum drinking age (a question not decided here), 158's indirect encouragement of state action to obtain uniformity in the States' drinking ages is a valid use of the spending power.

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 7–2.

“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.

• United States v. Butler · 297 U.S. 1 (1936)
• Oklahoma v. United States Civil Service Commission · 330 U.S. 127 (1947)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Ivanhoe Irrigation District v. McCracken · 357 U.S. 275 (1958)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• Steward MacHine Co. v. Davis · 301 U.S. 548 (1937)
• Helvering v. Davis · 301 U.S. 619 (1937)
• Lau v. Nichols · 414 U.S. 563 (1974)
• Massachusetts v. United States · 435 U.S. 444 (1978)
• 324 Liquor Corp. v. Duffy · 479 U.S. 335 (1987)
• Lawrence County v. Lead-Deadwood School District No. 40-1 · 469 U.S. 256 (1985)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Massachusetts v. Mellon · 262 U.S. 447 (1923)
• King v. Smith · 392 U.S. 309 (1968)
• Wickard v. Filburn · 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
• California Retail Liquor Dealers Assn. v. Midcal Aluminum, Inc. · 445 U.S. 97 (1980)
• Katzenbach v. McClung · 379 U.S. 294 (1964)
• Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias · 468 U.S. 263 (1984)
• Capital Cities Cable, Inc. v. Crisp · 467 U.S. 691 (1984)

Cited by

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

• Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority v. Citizens for the Abatement of Aircraft Noise, Inc. · 501 U.S. 252 (1991)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic · 606 U.S. 357 (2025)
• Davis Ex Rel. LaShonda D. v. Monroe County Board of Education · 526 U.S. 629 (1999)
• Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · 491 U.S. 58 (1989)
• College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board · 527 U.S. 666 (1999)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• Fischer v. United States · 529 U.S. 667 (2000)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Wellness Int'l Network, Ltd. v. Sharif · 575 U.S. 665 (2015)
• Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy · 548 U.S. 291 (2006)
• Sabri v. United States · 541 U.S. 600 (2004)
• United States v. Comstock · 560 U.S. 126 (2010)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• South Carolina v. Baker · 485 U.S. 505 (1988)
• Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
• Kousisis v. United States · 605 U.S. 114 (2025)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1987). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).