United States v. Mitchell et al.

Decided April 15, 1980. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-1756 · 445 U.S. 535 (1980) · Cited 2,169 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 5–3.

“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.

• United States v. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
• United States v. Sherwood · 312 U.S. 584 (1941)
• Mattz v. Arnett · 412 U.S. 481 (1973)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• United States v. King · 395 U.S. 1 (1969)
• United States v. Kagama · 118 U.S. 375 (1886)
• Group Life & Health Insurance v. Royal Drug Co. · 440 U.S. 205 (1979)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Daniel · 439 U.S. 551 (1979)
• Zenith Radio Corp. v. United States · 437 U.S. 443 (1978)
• Jacobs v. United States · 290 U.S. 13 (1933)
• Squire v. Capoeman · 351 U.S. 1 (1956)
• United States v. Creek Nation · 295 U.S. 103 (1935)
• United States v. Mason · 412 U.S. 391 (1973)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Mitchell · 463 U.S. 206 (1983)
• United States v. White Mountain Apache Tribe · 537 U.S. 465 (2003)
• United States v. Navajo Nation · 537 U.S. 488 (2003)
• United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation · 564 U.S. 162 (2011)
• Lehman v. Nakshian · 453 U.S. 156 (1981)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• United States v. Navajo Nation · 556 U.S. 287 (2009)
• United States Department of Energy v. Ohio · 503 U.S. 607 (1992)
• Arizona v. Navajo Nation · 599 U.S. 555 (2023)
• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Office of Personnel Management v. Richmond · 496 U.S. 414 (1990)
• White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker · 448 U.S. 136 (1980)
• Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. · 491 U.S. 1 (1989)
• United States v. Mottaz · 476 U.S. 834 (1986)
• County of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation · 502 U.S. 251 (1992)
• Securities Industry Ass'n v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System · 468 U.S. 137 (1984)

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).