Sporhase et al. v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Douglas, Attorney General

Decided July 2, 1982. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-613 · 458 U.S. 941 (1982) · Cited 201 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 7–2.

“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.

• Geer v. Connecticut · 161 U.S. 519 (1896)
• Pennsylvania v. West Virginia · 262 U.S. 553 (1923)
• Hughes v. Oklahoma · 441 U.S. 322 (1979)
• West v. Kansas Natural Gas Co. · 221 U.S. 229 (1911)
• California v. United States · 438 U.S. 645 (1978)
• Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc. · 452 U.S. 264 (1981)
• City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey · 437 U.S. 617 (1978)
• A. B. Kirschbaum Co. v. Walling · 316 U.S. 517 (1942)
• Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona Ex Rel. Sullivan · 325 U.S. 761 (1945)
• Prudential Insurance v. Benjamin · 328 U.S. 408 (1946)
• Baldwin v. Fish and Game Comm'n of Mont. · 436 U.S. 371 (1978)
• In Re Rahrer · 140 U.S. 545 (1891)
• Hicklin v. Orbeck · 437 U.S. 518 (1978)
• New England Power Co. v. New Hampshire · 455 U.S. 331 (1982)
• International Shoe Co. v. Washington · 326 U.S. 310 (1945)
• Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. · 397 U.S. 137 (1970)
• Wickard v. Filburn · 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• United States v. Darby · 312 U.S. 100 (1941)
• United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Assn. · 322 U.S. 533 (1944)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Toomer v. Witsell · 334 U.S. 385 (1948)
• Western & Southern Life Ins. Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization of Cal. · 451 U.S. 648 (1981)
• Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe · 455 U.S. 130 (1982)
• H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond · 336 U.S. 525 (1949)
• Houston, East & West Texas Railway Co. v. United States · 234 U.S. 342 (1914)
• Lewis v. BT Investment Managers, Inc. · 447 U.S. 27 (1980)
• Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison · 340 U.S. 349 (1951)
• Arizona v. California · 373 U.S. 546 (1963)
• Reeves, Inc. v. Stake · 447 U.S. 429 (1980)

Cited by

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

• Fort Gratiot Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Michigan Department of Natural Resources · 504 U.S. 353 (1992)
• Oregon Waste Systems, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Quality of Ore. · 511 U.S. 93 (1994)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• New Energy Co. of Indiana v. Limbach · 486 U.S. 269 (1988)
• South-Central Timber Development, Inc. v. Wunnicke · 467 U.S. 82 (1984)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Mississippi v. Tennessee · 595 U.S. 15 (2021)
• Maine v. Taylor · 477 U.S. 131 (1986)
• Healy v. Beer Institute · 491 U.S. 324 (1989)
• C & a Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown · 511 U.S. 383 (1994)
• Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers · 531 U.S. 159 (2001)
• West Lynn Creamery, Inc. v. Healy · 512 U.S. 186 (1994)
• Carney v. Adams · 592 U.S. 53 (2020)
• Northeast Bancorp, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System · 472 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Kraft General Foods, Inc. v. Iowa Department of Revenue & Finance · 505 U.S. 71 (1992)

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).