Watt, Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Alaska

Decided April 21, 1981. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-1890 · 451 U.S. 259 (1981) · Cited 843 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.

• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• United States v. American Trucking Associations · 310 U.S. 534 (1940)
• United States v. Borden Co. · 308 U.S. 188 (1939)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Sloan · 436 U.S. 103 (1978)
• Wallis v. Pan American Petroleum Corp. · 384 U.S. 63 (1966)
• Brown v. Allen · 344 U.S. 443 (1953)
• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Albernaz v. United States · 450 U.S. 333 (1981)
• United States v. Batchelder · 442 U.S. 114 (1979)
• Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States · 143 U.S. 457 (1892)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz · 449 U.S. 166 (1980)
• United States v. Wiltberger · 18 U.S. 76 (1820)
• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)
• Radzanower v. Touche Ross & Co. · 426 U.S. 148 (1976)
• Ullmann v. United States · 350 U.S. 422 (1956)
• Shapiro v. United States · 335 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Dixon v. United States · 381 U.S. 68 (1965)
• Posadas v. National City Bank · 296 U.S. 497 (1936)
• Scripps-Howard Radio, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 316 U.S. 4 (1942)
• Markham v. Cabell · 326 U.S. 404 (1946)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Local Union No. 103, International Ass'n of Bridge, Structural & Ornamental Iron Workers · 434 U.S. 335 (1978)
• Armstrong Paint & Varnish Works v. Nu-Enamel Corp. · 305 U.S. 315 (1938)
• Harrison v. PPG Industries, Inc. · 446 U.S. 578 (1980)
• Train v. Colorado Public Interest Research Group, Inc. · 426 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Andrus v. Sierra Club · 442 U.S. 347 (1979)
• Haggar Co. v. Helvering, Com'r of Internal Revenue · 308 U.S. 389 (1940)
• Boston Sand and Gravel Co. v. United States · 278 U.S. 41 (1928)

Cited by

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

• National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife · 551 U.S. 644 (2007)
• Thomas Jefferson University v. Shalala · 512 U.S. 504 (1994)
• Ponte v. Real · 471 U.S. 491 (1985)
• Watt v. Western Nuclear, Inc. · 462 U.S. 36 (1983)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• California v. Carney · 471 U.S. 386 (1985)
• Barnhart v. Walton · 535 U.S. 212 (2002)
• Smith v. Robinson · 468 U.S. 992 (1984)
• Public Citizen v. United States Department of Justice · 491 U.S. 440 (1989)
• Butler v. McKellar · 494 U.S. 407 (1990)
• Good Samaritan Hospital v. Shalala · 508 U.S. 402 (1993)
• Massachusetts v. Morash · 490 U.S. 107 (1989)
• International Primate Protection League v. Administrators of Tulane Educational Fund · 500 U.S. 72 (1991)
• American Textile Manufacturers Institute, Inc. v. Donovan · 452 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Doe v. Chao · 540 U.S. 614 (2004)
• Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States · 585 U.S. 274 (2018)
• Commissioner v. Engle · 464 U.S. 206 (1984)
• Secretary of the Interior v. California · 464 U.S. 312 (1984)
• Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad v. Railway Labor Executives' Ass'n · 491 U.S. 490 (1989)
• Federal Deposit Insurance v. Philadelphia Gear Corp. · 476 U.S. 426 (1986)

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).