United States et al. v. Locke et al.

Decided April 1, 1985. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1394 · 471 U.S. 84 (1985) · Cited 836 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 6–3.

“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.

• Texaco, Inc. v. Short · 454 U.S. 516 (1982)
• United States v. Boyle · 469 U.S. 241 (1985)
• Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford County, Inc. · 467 U.S. 51 (1984)
• Best v. Humboldt Placer Mining Co. · 371 U.S. 334 (1963)
• United States v. Clark · 445 U.S. 23 (1980)
• Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co. · 428 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill · 332 U.S. 380 (1947)
• United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz · 449 U.S. 166 (1980)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• Federal Election Commission v. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee · 454 U.S. 27 (1981)
• DelCostello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters · 462 U.S. 151 (1983)
• Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. · 272 U.S. 365 (1926)
• Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 455 U.S. 385 (1982)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Richards v. United States · 369 U.S. 1 (1962)
• Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc. · 458 U.S. 564 (1982)
• United States v. Raines · 362 U.S. 17 (1960)
• Armstrong v. United States · 364 U.S. 40 (1960)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co. · 459 U.S. 400 (1983)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur · 414 U.S. 632 (1974)
• Mourning v. Family Publications Service, Inc. · 411 U.S. 356 (1973)
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation v. RA Gray & Co. · 467 U.S. 717 (1984)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Transport Workers Union · 451 U.S. 77 (1981)
• Piper v. Chris-Craft Industries, Inc. · 430 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Mobil Oil Corp. v. Higginbotham · 436 U.S. 618 (1978)
• United States v. Rock Royal Co-Operative, Inc. · 307 U.S. 533 (1939)

Cited by

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

• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Public Citizen v. United States Department of Justice · 491 U.S. 440 (1989)
• Amoco Production Co. v. Village of Gambell · 480 U.S. 531 (1987)
• Jean v. Nelson · 472 U.S. 846 (1985)
• Hodel v. Irving · 481 U.S. 704 (1987)
• Houston v. Lack · 487 U.S. 266 (1988)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr · 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
• Lamie v. United States Trustee · 540 U.S. 526 (2004)
• Salinas v. United States · 522 U.S. 52 (1997)
• United States v. Albertini · 472 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Miller v. French · 530 U.S. 327 (2000)
• United States v. Beggerly · 524 U.S. 38 (1998)
• Carlisle v. United States · 517 U.S. 416 (1996)
• Communications Workers of America v. Beck · 487 U.S. 735 (1988)
• Pittston Coal Group v. Sebben · 488 U.S. 105 (1988)
• United States v. Granderson · 511 U.S. 39 (1994)
• Schwab v. Reilly · 560 U.S. 770 (2010)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• California Coastal Commission v. Granite Rock Co. · 480 U.S. 572 (1987)
• Koons Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. v. Nigh · 543 U.S. 50 (2004)
• Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Pueblo of Santa Ana · 472 U.S. 237 (1985)
• United States v. Wells Fargo Bank · 485 U.S. 351 (1988)

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).