U.S. Term Limits, Inc., et al. v. Ray Thornton et al.

Decided May 22, 1995. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-1456 · 514 U.S. 779 (1995) · Cited 478 times

Holding

Section 3 of Amendment 73 to the Arkansas Constitution violates the Federal Constitution.

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.

“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.

• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Nixon v. United States · 506 U.S. 224 (1993)
• McPherson v. Blacker · 146 U.S. 1 (1892)
• Crandall v. Nevada · 73 U.S. 35 (1868)
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Clements v. Fashing · 457 U.S. 957 (1982)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Harman v. Forssenius · 380 U.S. 528 (1965)
• Ex Parte Yarbrough · 110 U.S. 651 (1884)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Gregory v. Ashcroft · 501 U.S. 452 (1991)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• Wesberry v. Sanders · 376 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• Bank of Columbia v. Okely · 17 U.S. 122 (1819)
• Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut · 479 U.S. 208 (1986)
• Lubin v. Panish · 415 U.S. 709 (1974)
• Gaffney v. Cummings · 412 U.S. 735 (1973)
• Smiley v. Holm · 285 U.S. 355 (1932)
• Hawke v. Smith (No. 1) · 253 U.S. 221 (1920)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)

Cited by

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

• Chiafalo v. Washington · 591 U.S. 578 (2020)
• Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
• Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
• Trump v. Anderson · 601 U.S. 100 (2024)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Bush v. Gore · 531 U.S. 98 (2000)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• Moore v. Harper · 600 U.S. 1 (2023)
• Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP · 602 U.S. 1 (2024)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Arizona v. United States · 567 U.S. 387 (2012)
• J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro · 564 U.S. 873 (2011)
• Printz v. United States · 521 U.S. 898 (1997)
• Clinton v. City of New York · 524 U.S. 417 (1998)
• Saenz v. Roe · 526 U.S. 489 (1999)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• California Democratic Party v. Jones · 530 U.S. 567 (2000)
• United States v. Comstock · 560 U.S. 126 (2010)
• Haywood v. Drown · 556 U.S. 729 (2009)
• Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder · 557 U.S. 193 (2009)
• Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute · 584 U.S. 756 (2018)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1995). 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).