Washington et al. v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Association et al.

Decided July 2, 1979. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-983 · 443 U.S. 658 (1979) · Cited 573 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.

• United States v. Winans · 198 U.S. 371 (1905)
• Tulee v. Washington · 315 U.S. 681 (1942)
• Department of Game of Wash. v. Puyallup Tribe · 414 U.S. 44 (1973)
• Puyallup Tribe, Inc. v. Department of Game of Washington · 433 U.S. 165 (1977)
• Puyallup Tribe v. Department of Game of Wash. · 391 U.S. 392 (1968)
• Arizona v. California · 373 U.S. 546 (1963)
• Antoine v. Washington · 420 U.S. 194 (1975)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• Golden State Bottling Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 414 U.S. 168 (1973)
• Winters v. United States · 207 U.S. 564 (1908)
• City of Tacoma v. Taxpayers of Tacoma · 357 U.S. 320 (1958)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• DeFunis v. Odegaard · 416 U.S. 312 (1974)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 433 U.S. 267 (1977)
• Cooper v. Aaron · 358 U.S. 1 (1958)
• Griffin v. School Bd. of Prince Edward Cty. · 377 U.S. 218 (1964)
• Washington v. Confederated Bands & Tribes of the Yakima Indian Nation · 439 U.S. 463 (1979)
• Vendo Co. v. Lektro-Vend Corp. · 433 U.S. 623 (1977)
• Menominee Tribe of Indians v. United States · 391 U.S. 404 (1968)
• Jones v. Meehan · 175 U.S. 1 (1899)
• United States v. Antelope · 430 U.S. 641 (1977)
• Ableman v. Booth · 62 U.S. 506 (1859)
• Reece v. Georgia · 350 U.S. 85 (1955)
• North Carolina State Board of Education v. Swann · 402 U.S. 43 (1971)
• Ward v. Race Horse · 163 U.S. 504 (1896)
• Harding v. Harding · 198 U.S. 317 (1905)

Cited by

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

• Washington State Dept. of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc. · 586 U.S. 347 (2019)
• Herrera v. Wyoming · 587 U.S. 329 (2019)
• Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians · 526 U.S. 172 (1999)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Mississippi · 456 U.S. 742 (1982)
• Montana v. United States · 450 U.S. 544 (1981)
• Lance v. Dennis · 546 U.S. 459 (2006)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Franklin Mint Corp. · 466 U.S. 243 (1984)
• Arizona v. California · 460 U.S. 605 (1983)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• Countyof Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of NY · 470 U.S. 226 (1985)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 495 U.S. 33 (1990)
• Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Pueblo of Santa Ana · 472 U.S. 237 (1985)
• United States v. Dion · 476 U.S. 734 (1986)
• Rice v. Cayetano · 528 U.S. 495 (2000)
• Hagen v. Utah · 510 U.S. 399 (1994)
• South Dakota v. Bourland · 508 U.S. 679 (1993)
• Upper Skagit Tribe v. Lundgren · 584 U.S. 554 (2018)
• Arizona v. Navajo Nation · 599 U.S. 555 (2023)

Official text

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

Explore from here

John Paul Stevens’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).