United States Department of Agriculture et al. v. Murry et al.

Decided June 25, 1973. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-848 · 413 U.S. 508 (1973) · Cited 218 times

Holding

The tax deduction taken for the benefit of the parent in a prior year is not a rational measure of the need of a different household with which the child of the tax-deducting parent lives, and the administration of the Act allows no hearing to show that the tax deduction is irrelevant to the need of the household.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Stanley v. Illinois · 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Bell v. Burson · 402 U.S. 535 (1971)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co. · 220 U.S. 61 (1911)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• Mourning v. Family Publications Service, Inc. · 411 U.S. 356 (1973)
• Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York · 336 U.S. 106 (1949)

Cited by

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

• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz · 449 U.S. 166 (1980)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur · 414 U.S. 632 (1974)
• Schweiker v. Wilson · 450 U.S. 221 (1981)
• Vance v. Bradley · 440 U.S. 93 (1979)
• Lavine v. Milne · 424 U.S. 577 (1976)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1973). 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).