White, Mayor of Boston, et al. v. Massachusetts Council of Construction Employers, Inc., et al.

Decided February 28, 1983. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-1003 · 460 U.S. 204 (1983) · Cited 302 times

Holding

The Commerce Clause does not prevent the city from giving effect to the Mayor's executive order.

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 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.

• Reeves, Inc. v. Stake · 447 U.S. 429 (1980)
• Hicklin v. Orbeck · 437 U.S. 518 (1978)
• Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp. · 426 U.S. 794 (1976)
• Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison · 340 U.S. 349 (1951)
• United States v. Colgate & Co. · 250 U.S. 300 (1919)
• City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey · 437 U.S. 617 (1978)
• Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
• American Power & Light Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 329 U.S. 90 (1946)
• United States v. Parke, Davis & Co. · 362 U.S. 29 (1960)
• H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond · 336 U.S. 525 (1949)
• United States v. Arnold, Schwinn & Co. · 388 U.S. 365 (1967)
• Pennsylvania v. West Virginia · 262 U.S. 553 (1923)
• Woelke & Romero Framing, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board · 456 U.S. 645 (1982)
• Lorain Journal Co. v. United States · 342 U.S. 143 (1951)
• Prudential Insurance v. Benjamin · 328 U.S. 408 (1946)
• McCarthy v. Philadelphia Civil Service Commission · 424 U.S. 645 (1976)
• General Talking Pictures Corp. v. Western Electric Co. · 304 U.S. 175 (1938)
• Ramsey v. United Mine Workers · 401 U.S. 302 (1971)

Cited by

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

• Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis · 553 U.S. 328 (2008)
• South-Central Timber Development, Inc. v. Wunnicke · 467 U.S. 82 (1984)
• United Building & Constr. Trades Council of Camden Cty. v. Mayor and Council of Camden · 465 U.S. 208 (1984)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board · 527 U.S. 666 (1999)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Ward · 470 U.S. 869 (1985)
• Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor & Human Relations v. Gould Inc. · 475 U.S. 282 (1986)
• Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt · 504 U.S. 334 (1992)
• Fisher v. City of Berkeley · 475 U.S. 260 (1986)
• Northeast Bancorp, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System · 472 U.S. 159 (1985)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).