United States v. James et al.

Decided July 2, 1986. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-434 · 478 U.S. 597 (1986) · Cited 371 times

Holding

Section 702c bars recovery against the Government in these cases.

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 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.

• American Stevedores, Inc. v. Porello · 330 U.S. 446 (1947)
• United States v. Sponenbarger · 308 U.S. 256 (1939)
• Dalehite v. United States · 346 U.S. 15 (1953)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill · 437 U.S. 153 (1978)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)

Cited by

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

• Central Green Co. v. United States · 531 U.S. 425 (2001)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Salinas v. United States · 522 U.S. 52 (1997)
• Ardestani v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 502 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Burlington Northern Railroad v. Oklahoma Tax Commission · 481 U.S. 454 (1987)
• Koons Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. v. Nigh · 543 U.S. 50 (2004)
• United States v. Thompson/Center Arms Co. · 504 U.S. 505 (1992)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).