Warren Christopher, Former Secretary of State, et al. v. Jennifer K. Harbury

Decided June 20, 2002. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 01-394 · 536 U.S. 403 (2002) · Cited 2,579 times

Holding

Harbury has not stated a claim for denial of judicial access.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A. · 534 U.S. 506 (2002)
• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• Pennsylvania v. Finley · 481 U.S. 551 (1987)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit · 507 U.S. 163 (1993)
• California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited · 404 U.S. 508 (1972)
• Chicago & Southern Air Lines, Inc. v. Waterman Steamship Corp. · 333 U.S. 103 (1948)
• M. L. B. v. S. L. J. · 519 U.S. 102 (1996)
• Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board · 461 U.S. 731 (1983)
• Department of the Navy v. Egan · 484 U.S. 518 (1988)
• United States v. Shearer · 473 U.S. 52 (1985)
• Murray v. Giarratano · 492 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• Smith v. Bennett · 365 U.S. 708 (1961)
• Mayer v. City of Chicago · 404 U.S. 189 (1971)
• Burns v. Ohio · 360 U.S. 252 (1959)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker · 535 U.S. 125 (2002)
• Chambers v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad · 207 U.S. 142 (1907)
• Blake v. McClung · 172 U.S. 239 (1898)

Cited by

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

• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Hernández v. Mesa · 589 U.S. 93 (2020)

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 (2002). 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).