Walters, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, et al. v. National Association of Radiation Survivors et al.

Decided June 28, 1985. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-571 · 473 U.S. 305 (1985) · Cited 527 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.

“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.

• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Heckler v. Edwards · 465 U.S. 870 (1984)
• Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc. · 422 U.S. 922 (1975)
• Gagnon v. Scarpelli · 411 U.S. 778 (1973)
• Parham v. J. R. · 442 U.S. 584 (1979)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Lochner v. New York · 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee · 470 U.S. 480 (1985)
• Brown v. Chote · 411 U.S. 452 (1973)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Lassiter v. Department of Social Servs. of Durham Cty. · 452 U.S. 18 (1981)
• University of Texas v. Camenisch · 451 U.S. 390 (1981)
• Fleming v. Rhodes · 331 U.S. 100 (1947)
• Local No. 438 Construction & General Laborers' Union v. Curry · 371 U.S. 542 (1963)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Construction Corp. · 460 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Meachum v. Fano · 427 U.S. 215 (1976)
• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• Munn v. Illinois · 94 U.S. 113 (1877)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• United Mine Workers v. Illinois State Bar Ass'n · 389 U.S. 217 (1967)
• Rostker v. Goldberg · 453 U.S. 57 (1981)
• California v. Grace Brethren Church · 457 U.S. 393 (1982)
• Schweiker v. McClure · 456 U.S. 188 (1982)
• In Re Primus · 436 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia Ex Rel. Virginia State Bar · 377 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. · 339 U.S. 306 (1950)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)

Cited by

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

• United States Department of Labor v. Triplett · 494 U.S. 715 (1990)
• Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered v. United States · 491 U.S. 617 (1989)
• Smith v. Robbins · 528 U.S. 259 (2000)
• American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance v. Sullivan · 526 U.S. 40 (1999)
• Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs v. Sanders · 556 U.S. 396 (2009)
• Christopher v. Harbury · 536 U.S. 403 (2002)
• Wheat v. United States · 486 U.S. 153 (1988)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Washington v. Harper · 494 U.S. 210 (1990)
• Henderson v. Shinseki · 562 U.S. 428 (2011)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz · 496 U.S. 444 (1990)
• Minnesota v. Carter · 525 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Pegram v. Herdrich · 530 U.S. 211 (2000)
• Burns v. United States · 501 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 492 U.S. 115 (1989)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Lyng v. Payne · 476 U.S. 926 (1986)
• Ticor Title Insurance v. Brown · 511 U.S. 117 (1994)
• Bufkin v. Collins · 604 U.S. 369 (2025)

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).