United States v. Kimbell Foods, Inc., et al.

Decided April 2, 1979. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1359 · 440 U.S. 715 (1979) · Cited 1,102 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 9–0.

“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. Yazell · 382 U.S. 341 (1966)
• United States v. Security Trust & Savings Bank · 340 U.S. 47 (1950)
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation v. Beaver County · 328 U.S. 204 (1946)
• United States v. City of New Britain · 347 U.S. 81 (1954)
• United States v. Little Lake Misere Land Co. · 412 U.S. 580 (1973)
• United States v. Brosnan · 363 U.S. 237 (1960)
• Clearfield Trust Co. v. United States · 318 U.S. 363 (1943)
• United States v. Standard Oil Co. Of California · 332 U.S. 301 (1947)
• De Sylva v. Ballentine · 351 U.S. 570 (1956)
• Wallis v. Pan American Petroleum Corp. · 384 U.S. 63 (1966)
• United States v. Pioneer American Insurance · 374 U.S. 84 (1963)
• United States v. Vermont · 377 U.S. 351 (1964)
• Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 421 U.S. 454 (1975)
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht · 327 U.S. 392 (1946)
• Moor v. County of Alameda · 411 U.S. 693 (1973)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp. · 383 U.S. 696 (1966)
• Robertson v. Wegmann · 436 U.S. 584 (1978)
• Miree v. DeKalb County · 433 U.S. 25 (1977)
• Illinois v. City of Milwaukee · 406 U.S. 91 (1972)
• Board of Comm'rs of Jackson Cty. v. United States · 308 U.S. 343 (1939)
• United States v. Seckinger · 397 U.S. 203 (1970)
• United States v. County of Allegheny · 322 U.S. 174 (1944)
• Sola Electric Co. v. Jefferson Electric Co. · 317 U.S. 173 (1942)
• United States v. Gilbert Associates, Inc. · 345 U.S. 361 (1953)
• United States v. Acri · 348 U.S. 211 (1955)
• United States v. Waddill, Holland & Flinn, Inc. · 323 U.S. 353 (1945)
• New York v. MacLay · 288 U.S. 290 (1933)
• National Bank v. Whitney · 103 U.S. 99 (1881)
• Bank of America National Trust & Savings Ass'n v. Parnell · 352 U.S. 29 (1956)
• United States v. Equitable Life Assurance Soc. of United States · 384 U.S. 323 (1966)

Cited by

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

• Empire Healthchoice Assurance, Inc. v. McVeigh · 547 U.S. 677 (2006)
• Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. · 487 U.S. 500 (1988)
• O'Melveny & Myers v. Federal Deposit Insurance · 512 U.S. 79 (1994)
• Danforth v. Minnesota · 552 U.S. 264 (2008)
• Atherton v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. · 519 U.S. 213 (1997)
• Wilson v. Omaha Indian Tribe · 442 U.S. 653 (1979)
• United States v. Estate of Romani · 523 U.S. 517 (1998)
• Kamen v. Kemper Financial Services, Inc. · 500 U.S. 90 (1991)
• Burks v. Lasker · 441 U.S. 471 (1979)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Southland Corp. v. Keating · 465 U.S. 1 (1984)
• Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain · 542 U.S. 692 (2004)
• Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp. · 453 U.S. 473 (1981)
• West Virginia v. United States · 479 U.S. 305 (1987)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co. · 554 U.S. 316 (2008)
• Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC · 584 U.S. 241 (2018)

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).