United States v. White Mountain Apache Tribe
Decided March 4, 2003. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 01-1067 · 537 U.S. 465 (2003) · Cited 738 times
Holding
The 1960 Act gives rise to Indian Tucker Act jurisdiction in the Court of Federal Claims over the Tribe’s suit for money damages against the United States.
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 5–4.
Majority · 3
- David Hackett Souter · delivered the opinion of the Court
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor
Concurring · 2
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · filed a concurring opinion
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 4
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas · filed a dissenting opinion
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
“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. Mitchell · 463 U.S. 206 (1983)
- United States v. Mitchell · 445 U.S. 535 (1980)
- United States v. Testan · 424 U.S. 392 (1976)
- Army and Air Force Exchange Service v. Sheehan · 456 U.S. 728 (1982)
- United States v. Sherwood · 312 U.S. 584 (1941)
- United States v. King · 395 U.S. 1 (1969)
- White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker · 448 U.S. 136 (1980)
- Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Central Transport, Inc. · 472 U.S. 559 (1985)
- 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. Navajo Nation · 556 U.S. 287 (2009)
- United States v. Bormes · 568 U.S. 6 (2012)
- United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation · 564 U.S. 162 (2011)
- Arizona v. Navajo Nation · 599 U.S. 555 (2023)
- Dolan v. United States Postal Service · 546 U.S. 481 (2006)
- Gomez-Perez v. Potter · 553 U.S. 474 (2008)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2003). 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).