United States Trust Company of New York, Trustee v. New Jersey et al.

Decided April 27, 1977. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-1687 · 431 U.S. 1 (1977) · Cited 1,245 times

Holding

The Contract Clause prohibits the retroactive repeal of the 1962 covenant.

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 4–3.

“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.

• Home Building & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell · 290 U.S. 398 (1934)
• W. B. Worthen Co. v. Kavanaugh · 295 U.S. 56 (1935)
• City of El Paso v. Simmons · 379 U.S. 497 (1965)
• Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. City of Goldsboro · 232 U.S. 548 (1914)
• Fertilizing Co. v. Hyde Park · 97 U.S. 659 (1878)
• Von Hoffman v. City of Quincy · 71 U.S. 535 (1867)
• Perry v. United States · 294 U.S. 330 (1935)
• Ogden v. Saunders · 25 U.S. 213 (1827)
• East New York Savings Bank v. Hahn · 326 U.S. 230 (1945)
• Whalen v. Roe · 429 U.S. 589 (1977)
• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Manigault v. Springs · 199 U.S. 473 (1905)
• Indiana Ex Rel. Anderson v. Brand · 303 U.S. 95 (1938)
• New Jersey v. Wilson · 11 U.S. 164 (1812)
• Murray v. Charleston · 96 U.S. 432 (1878)
• Wolff v. New Orleans · 103 U.S. 358 (1881)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Louisiana v. Pilsbury · 105 U.S. 278 (1882)
• Calder v. Bull · 3 U.S. 386 (1798)
• Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co. · 428 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Lochner v. New York · 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
• Lynch v. United States · 292 U.S. 571 (1934)
• Boyd's Lessee v. Graves · 17 U.S. 513 (1819)
• Goldblatt v. Town of Hempstead · 369 U.S. 590 (1962)
• Bank of Columbia v. Okely · 17 U.S. 122 (1819)
• Green v. Biddle · 21 U.S. 1 (1823)
• Welch v. Henry · 305 U.S. 134 (1938)
• Sproles v. Binford · 286 U.S. 374 (1932)

Cited by

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

• Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co. · 459 U.S. 400 (1983)
• Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus · 438 U.S. 234 (1978)
• Exxon Corp. v. Eagerton · 462 U.S. 176 (1983)
• United States v. Winstar Corp. · 518 U.S. 839 (1996)
• National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. · 470 U.S. 451 (1985)
• Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictis · 480 U.S. 470 (1987)
• Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation · 513 U.S. 30 (1994)
• Harmelin v. Michigan · 501 U.S. 957 (1991)
• Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc. · 438 U.S. 59 (1978)
• Concrete Pipe & Products of Cal., Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern Cal. · 508 U.S. 602 (1993)
• Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. Bonjorno · 494 U.S. 827 (1990)
• Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. · 514 U.S. 211 (1995)
• Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff · 467 U.S. 229 (1984)
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation v. RA Gray & Co. · 467 U.S. 717 (1984)
• General Motors Corp. v. Romein · 503 U.S. 181 (1992)
• Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney · 495 U.S. 299 (1990)
• Vartelas v. Holder · 566 U.S. 257 (2012)
• Massachusetts v. United States · 435 U.S. 444 (1978)
• Sveen v. Melin · 584 U.S. 811 (2018)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1977). 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).