United States v. Clark, Guardian
Decided February 26, 1980. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 78-1513 · 445 U.S. 23 (1980) · Cited 145 times
Holding
Under the provisions of the Civil Service Retirement Act whereby a deceased federal employee's legitimate children under 18 years of age qualify for survivors' benefits but "recognized natural" children under 18 may recover only if they "lived with the employee .
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 7–2.
Majority · 5
- Thurgood Marshall · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Concurring · 2
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
- Warren Earl Burger
Dissenting · 2
- Potter Stewart
- William Hubbs Rehnquist · filed a dissenting opinion
“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. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
- Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
- Lalli v. Lalli · 439 U.S. 259 (1978)
- Califano v. Yamasaki · 442 U.S. 682 (1979)
- Trimble v. Gordon · 430 U.S. 762 (1977)
- Youakim v. Miller · 425 U.S. 231 (1976)
- United States v. Raines · 362 U.S. 17 (1960)
- Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. McLaughlin · 323 U.S. 101 (1944)
- International Ass'n of MacHinists v. Street · 367 U.S. 740 (1961)
- Batterton v. Francis · 432 U.S. 416 (1977)
- New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer · 440 U.S. 568 (1979)
- Mathews v. Lucas · 427 U.S. 495 (1976)
- United States v. Carlo Bianchi & Co. · 373 U.S. 709 (1963)
- United States v. Southwestern Cable Co. · 392 U.S. 157 (1968)
- Jimenez v. Weinberger · 417 U.S. 628 (1974)
- Toledo Scale Co. v. Computing Scale Co. · 261 U.S. 399 (1923)
- Rainwater v. United States · 356 U.S. 590 (1958)
- Richardson v. Morris · 409 U.S. 464 (1972)
- Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America v. United States · 320 U.S. 1 (1943)
- Alma Motor Co. v. Timken-Detroit Axle Co. · 329 U.S. 129 (1946)
- Hatzlachh Supply Co. v. United States · 444 U.S. 460 (1980)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. Locke · 471 U.S. 84 (1985)
- Pickett v. Brown · 462 U.S. 1 (1983)
- California v. Grace Brethren Church · 457 U.S. 393 (1982)
- Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
- United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. · 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
- Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
- Regan v. Time, Inc. · 468 U.S. 641 (1984)
- Communications Workers of America v. Beck · 487 U.S. 735 (1988)
- Heckler v. Edwards · 465 U.S. 870 (1984)
- Franchise Tax Board v. United States Postal Service · 467 U.S. 512 (1984)
- Lowe v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 472 U.S. 181 (1985)
- St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church v. South Dakota · 451 U.S. 772 (1981)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1980). 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).