United States v. Virginia et al.

Decided June 26, 1996. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-1941 · 518 U.S. 515 (1996) · Cited 930 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 7–1.

“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.

• Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan · 458 U.S. 718 (1982)
• Sweatt v. Painter · 339 U.S. 629 (1950)
• Reed v. Reed · 404 U.S. 71 (1971)
• J. E. B. v. Alabama ex rel. T. B. · 511 U.S. 127 (1994)
• Califano v. Webster · 430 U.S. 313 (1977)
• Heckler v. Mathews · 465 U.S. 728 (1984)
• Goesaert v. Cleary · 335 U.S. 464 (1948)
• Hoyt v. Florida · 368 U.S. 57 (1961)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 433 U.S. 267 (1977)
• Clark v. Jeter · 486 U.S. 456 (1988)
• Louisiana v. United States · 380 U.S. 145 (1965)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County · 450 U.S. 464 (1981)
• Wengler v. Druggists Mutual Insurance · 446 U.S. 142 (1980)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Frontiero v. Richardson · 411 U.S. 677 (1973)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld · 420 U.S. 636 (1975)
• Rostker v. Goldberg · 453 U.S. 57 (1981)
• Norwood v. Harrison · 413 U.S. 455 (1973)
• KIRCHBERG v. FEENSTRA Et Al. · 450 U.S. 455 (1981)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Davis v. Passman · 442 U.S. 228 (1979)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• Rendell-Baker v. Kohn · 457 U.S. 830 (1982)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Skrmetti · 605 U.S. 495 (2025)
• Tuan Anh Nguyen v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 533 U.S. 53 (2001)
• Sessions v. Morales-Santana · 582 U.S. 47 (2017)
• Miller v. Albright · 523 U.S. 420 (1998)
• Comcast Corp. v. Behrend · 569 U.S. 27 (2013)
• Grutter v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
• Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs · 538 U.S. 721 (2003)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Gonzales v. Carhart · 550 U.S. 124 (2007)
• Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado · 580 U.S. 206 (2017)
• Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. · 587 U.S. 490 (2019)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Roper v. Simmons · 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett · 531 U.S. 356 (2001)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland · 566 U.S. 30 (2012)
• Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee · 555 U.S. 246 (2009)
• Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. · 597 U.S. 507 (2022)
• Locke v. Davey · 540 U.S. 712 (2004)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).