United States v. Skelly Oil Co.
Decided April 21, 1969. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 280 · 394 U.S. 678 (1969) · Cited 259 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 6–3.
Majority · 6
- Thurgood Marshall · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Abe Fortas
- Byron Raymond White
- Earl Warren
- Hugo Lafayette Black
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Dissenting · 3
- John Marshall Harlan
- Potter Stewart · filed a dissenting opinion
- William Orville Douglas · 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.
- Arrowsmith v. Commissioner · 344 U.S. 6 (1952)
- United States v. Ludey · 274 U.S. 295 (1927)
- Healy v. Commissioner · 345 U.S. 278 (1953)
- Charles Ilfeld Co. v. Hernandez · 292 U.S. 62 (1934)
- United States v. Lewis · 340 U.S. 590 (1951)
- Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
- Commissioner v. South Texas Lumber Co. · 333 U.S. 496 (1948)
- North American Oil Consolidated v. Burnet · 286 U.S. 417 (1932)
- Burnet v. Sanford & Brooks Co. · 282 U.S. 359 (1931)
- Commissioner v. Southwest Exploration Co. · 350 U.S. 308 (1956)
- Helvering v. Wilshire Oil Co. · 308 U.S. 90 (1939)
- Helvering v. St. Louis Union Trust Co. · 296 U.S. 39 (1935)
- Becker v. St. Louis Union Trust Co. · 296 U.S. 48 (1935)
- Lewyt Corp. v. Commissioner · 349 U.S. 237 (1955)
- Commissioner v. Stidger · 386 U.S. 287 (1967)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Commissioner v. Groetzinger · 480 U.S. 23 (1987)
- United States v. Generes · 405 U.S. 93 (1972)
- Hillsboro National Bank v. Commissioner · 460 U.S. 370 (1983)
- Gitlitz v. Commissioner · 531 U.S. 206 (2001)
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).