Webster, Director of Central Intelligence v. Doe

Decided June 15, 1988. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 86-1294 · 486 U.S. 592 (1988) · Cited 942 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 6–2.

“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.

• Heckler v. Chaney · 470 U.S. 821 (1985)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe · 401 U.S. 402 (1971)
• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Department of the Navy v. Egan · 484 U.S. 518 (1988)
• Central Intelligence Agency v. Sims · 471 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor · 478 U.S. 833 (1986)
• Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians · 476 U.S. 667 (1986)
• United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. · 299 U.S. 304 (1936)
• Snepp v. United States · 444 U.S. 507 (1980)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• United States v. Nixon · 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
• Kerr v. United States Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of Cal. · 426 U.S. 394 (1976)
• Sampson v. Murray · 415 U.S. 61 (1974)
• Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo · 456 U.S. 305 (1982)
• Hecht Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 321 (1944)
• Bowers v. Hardwick · 478 U.S. 186 (1986)
• Chicago & Southern Air Lines, Inc. v. Waterman Steamship Corp. · 333 U.S. 103 (1948)
• United States v. Reynolds · 345 U.S. 1 (1953)
• Service v. Dulles · 354 U.S. 363 (1957)
• United States v. Stanley · 483 U.S. 669 (1987)
• Coleman v. Miller · 307 U.S. 433 (1939)
• Switchmen's Union v. National Mediation Board · 320 U.S. 297 (1943)
• Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers · 482 U.S. 270 (1987)
• Schillinger v. United States · 155 U.S. 163 (1894)
• Confiscation Cases · 74 U.S. 454 (1869)
• Totten v. United States · 92 U.S. 105 (1876)
• Southern Railway Co. v. Seaboard Allied Milling Corp. · 442 U.S. 444 (1979)
• United States v. George S. Bush & Co. · 310 U.S. 371 (1940)
• Ohio Ex Rel. Bryant v. Akron Metropolitan Park District · 281 U.S. 74 (1930)

Cited by

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

• Department of Commerce v. New York · 588 U.S. 752 (2019)
• Franklin v. Massachusetts · 505 U.S. 788 (1992)
• Tenet v. Doe · 544 U.S. 1 (2005)
• Elgin v. Department of the Treasury · 567 U.S. 1 (2012)
• Lincoln v. Vigil · 508 U.S. 182 (1993)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Kerry v. Din · 576 U.S. 86 (2015)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Bouarfa v. Mayorkas · 604 U.S. 6 (2024)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr · 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
• Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee · 525 U.S. 471 (1999)
• Demore v. Kim · 538 U.S. 510 (2003)
• Peretz v. United States · 501 U.S. 923 (1991)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• Utah v. Evans · 536 U.S. 452 (2002)
• Touby v. United States · 500 U.S. 160 (1991)
• Hinck v. United States · 550 U.S. 501 (2007)
• Garland v. Gonzalez · 596 U.S. 543 (2022)

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).