Western & Southern Life Insurance Co. v. State Board of Equalization of California

Decided May 26, 1981. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-1423 · 451 U.S. 648 (1981) · Cited 575 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 7–2.

“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.

• Paul v. Virginia · 75 U.S. 168 (1869)
• Hanover Fire Insurance v. Harding · 272 U.S. 494 (1926)
• Prudential Insurance v. Benjamin · 328 U.S. 408 (1946)
• Wheeling Steel Corp. v. Glander · 337 U.S. 562 (1949)
• Allied Stores of Ohio, Inc. v. Bowers · 358 U.S. 522 (1959)
• Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co. · 449 U.S. 456 (1981)
• Louis K. Liggett Co. v. Lee · 288 U.S. 517 (1933)
• Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. · 397 U.S. 137 (1970)
• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• Vance v. Bradley · 440 U.S. 93 (1979)
• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Frost & Frost Trucking Co. v. Railroad Comm'n of Cal. · 271 U.S. 583 (1926)
• Power Manufacturing Co. v. Saunders · 274 U.S. 490 (1927)
• Doyle v. Continental Insurance · 94 U.S. 535 (1877)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey · 437 U.S. 617 (1978)
• United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Assn. · 322 U.S. 533 (1944)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Lehnhausen v. Lake Shore Auto Parts Co. · 410 U.S. 356 (1973)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. National Securities, Inc. · 393 U.S. 453 (1969)
• Toomer v. Witsell · 334 U.S. 385 (1948)
• Wilburn Boat Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance · 348 U.S. 310 (1955)
• Group Life & Health Insurance v. Royal Drug Co. · 440 U.S. 205 (1979)
• H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond · 336 U.S. 525 (1949)
• Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp. · 426 U.S. 794 (1976)
• Lewis v. BT Investment Managers, Inc. · 447 U.S. 27 (1980)
• Baldwin v. Fish and Game Comm'n of Mont. · 436 U.S. 371 (1978)

Cited by

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

• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Ward · 470 U.S. 869 (1985)
• Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas · 588 U.S. 504 (2019)
• Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. v. Arkansas Public Service Commission · 461 U.S. 375 (1983)
• G. D. Searle & Co. v. Cohn · 455 U.S. 404 (1982)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Heller v. Doe Ex Rel. Doe · 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
• Ruckelshaus v. Monsanto Co. · 467 U.S. 986 (1984)
• Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictis · 480 U.S. 470 (1987)
• Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff · 467 U.S. 229 (1984)
• South-Central Timber Development, Inc. v. Wunnicke · 467 U.S. 82 (1984)
• Granholm v. Heald · 544 U.S. 460 (2005)
• American Ins. Assn. v. Garamendi · 539 U.S. 396 (2003)
• Exxon Corp. v. Eagerton · 462 U.S. 176 (1983)
• Sporhase v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Douglas · 458 U.S. 941 (1982)
• Northeast Bancorp, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System · 472 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Mallory v. Norfolk Southern R. Co · 600 U.S. 122 (2023)

Official text

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

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William Joseph Brennan Jr.’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).