William Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, Inc.

Decided June 24, 1996. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-719 · 518 U.S. 415 (1996) · Cited 1,834 times

Holding

New York’s law controlling compensation awards for excessiveness or inadequacy can be given effect, without detriment to the Seventh Amendment, if the review standard set out in CPLR § 5501(c) is applied by the federal trial court judge, with appellate control of the trial court’s ruling confined to “abuse of discretion.”

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 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.

• Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. · 356 U.S. 525 (1958)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Grunenthal v. Long Island Rail Road · 393 U.S. 156 (1968)
• Parsons v. Bedford, Breedlove, & Robeson · 28 U.S. 433 (1830)
• Hanna v. Plumer · 380 U.S. 460 (1965)
• Dimick v. Schiedt · 293 U.S. 474 (1935)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Donovan v. Penn Shipping Co. · 429 U.S. 648 (1977)
• Railroad Co. v. Fraloff · 100 U.S. 24 (1879)
• Ornelas v. United States · 517 U.S. 690 (1996)
• Gasoline Products Co. v. Champlin Refining Co. · 283 U.S. 494 (1931)
• Ragan v. Merchants Transfer & Warehouse Co. · 337 U.S. 530 (1949)
• Burlington Northern Railroad v. Woods · 480 U.S. 1 (1987)
• Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg · 512 U.S. 415 (1994)
• Neese v. Southern Railway Co. · 350 U.S. 77 (1955)
• Guaranty Trust Co. v. York · 326 U.S. 99 (1945)
• Walker v. Armco Steel Corp. · 446 U.S. 740 (1980)
• Fairmount Glass Works v. Cub Fork Coal Co. · 287 U.S. 474 (1933)
• Southern Railway-Carolina Division v. Bennett · 233 U.S. 80 (1914)
• Pierce v. Underwood · 487 U.S. 552 (1988)
• Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore · 439 U.S. 322 (1979)
• MARKMAN Et Al. v. WESTVIEW INSTRUMENTS, INC., Et Al. · 517 U.S. 370 (1996)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• Pullman-Standard v. Swint · 456 U.S. 273 (1982)
• Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago · 166 U.S. 226 (1897)
• Sibbach v. Wilson & Co. · 312 U.S. 1 (1941)
• Colgrove v. Battin · 413 U.S. 149 (1973)
• Arkansas Valley Land & Cattle Co. v. Mann · 130 U.S. 69 (1889)
• Wabash Railway Co. v. McDaniels · 107 U.S. 454 (1883)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Town & Country Electric, Inc. · 516 U.S. 85 (1995)

Cited by

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

• Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. · 532 U.S. 424 (2001)
• Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc. · 572 U.S. 898 (2014)
• Schriro v. Summerlin · 542 U.S. 348 (2004)
• Semtek International Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp. · 531 U.S. 497 (2001)
• Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. · 593 U.S. 1 (2021)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). 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).