United States v. Alfonso Lopez, Jr.

Decided April 26, 1995. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-1260 · 514 U.S. 549 (1995) · Cited 3,052 times

Holding

New York’s surcharge provisions do not “relate to” employee benefit plans within the meaning of § 514(a) and, thus, are not pre-empted.

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.

• Wickard v. Filburn · 317 U.S. 111 (1942)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• United States v. Darby · 312 U.S. 100 (1941)
• Perez v. United States · 402 U.S. 146 (1971)
• Katzenbach v. McClung · 379 U.S. 294 (1964)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• Maryland v. Wirtz · 392 U.S. 183 (1968)
• United States v. Bass · 404 U.S. 336 (1971)
• Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc. · 452 U.S. 264 (1981)
• Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States · 379 U.S. 241 (1964)
• A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States · 295 U.S. 495 (1935)
• Gregory v. Ashcroft · 501 U.S. 452 (1991)
• United States v. E. C. Knight Co. · 156 U.S. 1 (1895)
• Hammer v. Dagenhart · 247 U.S. 251 (1918)
• Daniel v. Paul · 395 U.S. 298 (1969)
• Lochner v. New York · 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
• Carter v. Carter Coal Co. · 298 U.S. 238 (1936)
• Houston, East & West Texas Railway Co. v. United States · 234 U.S. 342 (1914)
• Stafford v. Wallace · 258 U.S. 495 (1922)
• Adair v. United States · 208 U.S. 161 (1908)
• North American Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 327 U.S. 686 (1946)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Beach Communications, Inc. · 508 U.S. 307 (1993)
• Cohens v. Virginia · 19 U.S. 264 (1821)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• Preseault v. Interstate Commerce Commission · 494 U.S. 1 (1990)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)
• Coleman v. Thompson · 501 U.S. 722 (1991)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• Gonzales v. Raich · 545 U.S. 1 (2005)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• Jones v. United States · 529 U.S. 848 (2000)
• Sabri v. United States · 541 U.S. 600 (2004)
• United States v. Comstock · 560 U.S. 126 (2010)
• Citizens Bank v. Alafabco, Inc. · 539 U.S. 52 (2003)
• Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers · 531 U.S. 159 (2001)
• Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl · 570 U.S. 637 (2013)
• United States v. Kebodeaux · 570 U.S. 387 (2013)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis · 553 U.S. 328 (2008)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 515 U.S. 70 (1995)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. · 577 U.S. 312 (2016)
• Luna Torres v. Lynch · 578 U.S. 452 (2016)
• Zivotofsky v. Kerry · 576 U.S. 1 (2015)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• Pierce County v. Guillen · 537 U.S. 129 (2003)
• Ring v. Arizona · 536 U.S. 584 (2002)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams · 532 U.S. 105 (2001)
• Salinas v. United States · 522 U.S. 52 (1997)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1995). 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).