United States v. Morton

Decided June 19, 1984. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-916 · 467 U.S. 822 (1984) · Cited 489 times

Holding

The Government cannot be held liable for honoring a writ of garnishment, such as the one in question here, which is "regular on its face" and has been issued by a court with subject-matter jurisdiction to issue such orders.

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 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.

• Griffin v. Griffin · 327 U.S. 220 (1946)
• World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson · 444 U.S. 286 (1980)
• Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co. · 457 U.S. 922 (1982)
• Fuentes v. Shevin · 407 U.S. 67 (1972)
• Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie Des Bauxites De Guinee · 456 U.S. 694 (1982)
• Shaffer v. Heitner · 433 U.S. 186 (1977)
• Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc. · 465 U.S. 770 (1984)
• North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc. · 419 U.S. 601 (1975)
• Allied Chemical & Alkali Workers of America, Local Union No. 1 v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. · 404 U.S. 157 (1971)
• Batterton v. Francis · 432 U.S. 416 (1977)
• May v. Anderson · 345 U.S. 528 (1953)
• Schweiker v. Gray Panthers · 453 U.S. 34 (1981)
• Estin v. Estin · 334 U.S. 541 (1948)
• Philbrook v. Glodgett · 421 U.S. 707 (1975)
• Harris v. Balk · 198 U.S. 215 (1905)
• Vanderbilt v. Vanderbilt · 354 U.S. 416 (1957)
• Stafford v. Briggs · 444 U.S. 527 (1980)
• Chemehuevi Tribe of Indians v. Federal Power Commission · 420 U.S. 395 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Barnhart v. Walton · 535 U.S. 212 (2002)
• Stenberg v. Carhart · 530 U.S. 914 (2000)
• United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• Carlsbad Technology, Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc. · 556 U.S. 635 (2009)
• Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
• Deal v. United States · 508 U.S. 129 (1993)
• Harbison v. Bell · 556 U.S. 180 (2009)
• Samantar v. Yousuf · 560 U.S. 305 (2010)
• United States v. Smith · 499 U.S. 160 (1991)
• Edelman v. Lynchburg College · 535 U.S. 106 (2002)
• Lightfoot v. Cendant Mortgage Corp · 580 U.S. 82 (2017)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). 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).