Torres v. Puerto RICO

Decided June 18, 1979. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1609 · 442 U.S. 465 (1979) · Cited 223 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 9–0.

“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.

• Downes v. Bidwell · 182 U.S. 244 (1901)
• Examining Bd. of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors v. Flores De Otero · 426 U.S. 572 (1976)
• Dorr v. United States · 195 U.S. 138 (1904)
• United States v. Chadwick · 433 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Balzac v. Porto Rico · 258 U.S. 298 (1922)
• Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co. · 416 U.S. 663 (1974)
• Mullaney v. Anderson · 342 U.S. 415 (1952)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• Sibron v. New York · 392 U.S. 40 (1968)
• Mincey v. Arizona · 437 U.S. 385 (1978)
• United States v. Di Re · 332 U.S. 581 (1948)
• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. · 436 U.S. 307 (1978)
• Almeida-Sanchez v. United States · 413 U.S. 266 (1973)
• Reid v. Covert · 354 U.S. 1 (1957)
• United States v. Ramsey · 431 U.S. 606 (1977)
• Young v. United States · 315 U.S. 257 (1942)
• Califano v. Torres · 435 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Ohio Ex Rel. Bryant v. Akron Metropolitan Park District · 281 U.S. 74 (1930)

Cited by

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

• City of L. A. v. Patel · 576 U.S. 409 (2015)
• Financial Oversight and Management Bd. for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC · 590 U.S. 448 (2020)
• Michigan v. DeFillippo · 443 U.S. 31 (1979)
• Illinois v. Krull · 480 U.S. 340 (1987)
• Harris v. Rosario · 446 U.S. 651 (1980)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Ybarra v. Illinois · 444 U.S. 85 (1979)
• Boumediene v. Bush · 553 U.S. 723 (2008)
• Posadas De Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico · 478 U.S. 328 (1986)
• Rodriguez v. Popular Democratic Party · 457 U.S. 1 (1982)
• United States v. International Business MacHines Corp. · 517 U.S. 843 (1996)

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).