United States v. California

Decided June 23, 1947. Hugo Lafayette Black delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 12 · 332 U.S. 19 (1947) · Cited 435 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 6–2.

“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.

• United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. · 299 U.S. 304 (1936)
• Borax Consolidated, Ltd. v. Los Angeles · 296 U.S. 10 (1935)
• In Re Debs · 158 U.S. 564 (1895)
• Shively v. Bowlby · 152 U.S. 1 (1894)
• Utah Power & Light Co. v. United States · 243 U.S. 389 (1917)
• United States v. City & County of San Francisco · 310 U.S. 16 (1940)
• Skiriotes v. Florida · 313 U.S. 69 (1941)
• United States v. Oregon · 295 U.S. 1 (1935)
• Manchester v. Massachusetts · 139 U.S. 240 (1891)
• United States v. Minnesota · 270 U.S. 181 (1926)
• Sanitary District of Chicago v. United States · 266 U.S. 405 (1925)
• United States v. West Virginia · 295 U.S. 463 (1935)
• Hines v. Davidowitz · 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• United States v. Causby · 328 U.S. 256 (1946)
• United States v. Standard Oil Co. Of California · 332 U.S. 301 (1947)
• United States v. Chandler-Dunbar Water Power Co. · 229 U.S. 53 (1913)
• United States v. Belmont · 301 U.S. 324 (1937)
• Barney v. Keokuk · 94 U.S. 324 (1877)
• Cunard Steamship Co. v. Mellon · 262 U.S. 100 (1923)
• Scranton v. Wheeler · 179 U.S. 141 (1900)
• United States v. San Jacinto Tin Co. · 125 U.S. 273 (1888)
• Oklahoma v. Texas · 258 U.S. 574 (1922)
• United States v. Texas · 143 U.S. 621 (1892)
• Oklahoma v. Textas · 256 U.S. 70 (1921)
• Chy Lung v. Freeman · 92 U.S. 275 (1876)
• Nebraska v. Wyoming · 325 U.S. 589 (1945)
• Church v. Hubbart · 6 U.S. 187 (1804)
• United States v. Commodore Park, Inc. · 324 U.S. 386 (1945)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Texas · 339 U.S. 707 (1950)
• United States v. Louisiana the Louisiana Boundary Case · 394 U.S. 11 (1969)
• United States v. Louisiana · 339 U.S. 699 (1950)
• Maryland v. Louisiana · 451 U.S. 725 (1981)
• Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton · 587 U.S. 601 (2019)
• Toomer v. Witsell · 334 U.S. 385 (1948)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Arizona v. California · 460 U.S. 605 (1983)
• Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford County, Inc. · 467 U.S. 51 (1984)
• Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp. · 488 U.S. 428 (1989)
• Banco Nacional De Cuba v. Sabbatino · 376 U.S. 398 (1964)
• South Carolina v. Katzenbach · 383 U.S. 301 (1966)
• Bowsher v. Synar · 478 U.S. 714 (1986)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp. · 453 U.S. 473 (1981)
• Takahashi v. Fish & Game Commission · 334 U.S. 410 (1948)
• United States v. Mississippi · 380 U.S. 128 (1965)
• Arizona v. California · 373 U.S. 546 (1963)
• Kleppe v. New Mexico · 426 U.S. 529 (1976)
• Ivanhoe Irrigation District v. McCracken · 357 U.S. 275 (1958)
• St. Regis Paper Co. v. United States · 368 U.S. 208 (1961)
• Douglas v. Seacoast Products, Inc. · 431 U.S. 265 (1977)
• Ohio v. Wyandotte Chemicals Corp. · 401 U.S. 493 (1971)
• Bonelli Cattle Co. v. Arizona · 414 U.S. 313 (1973)
• Shell Oil Co. v. Iowa Department of Revenue · 488 U.S. 19 (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).