Wyman, Commissioner of New York Department of Social Services, et al. v. James

Decided January 12, 1971. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 69 · 400 U.S. 309 (1971) · Cited 427 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.

• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Frank v. Maryland · 359 U.S. 360 (1959)
• See v. City of Seattle · 387 U.S. 541 (1967)
• Chimel v. California · 395 U.S. 752 (1969)
• King v. Smith · 392 U.S. 309 (1968)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Johnson v. United States · 333 U.S. 10 (1948)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Elkins v. United States · 364 U.S. 206 (1960)
• Olmstead v. United States · 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
• McDonald v. United States · 335 U.S. 451 (1948)
• Agnello v. United States · 269 U.S. 20 (1925)
• Wolf v. Colorado · 338 U.S. 25 (1949)
• Rosado v. Wyman · 397 U.S. 397 (1970)
• Poe v. Ullman · 367 U.S. 497 (1961)
• Vale v. Louisiana · 399 U.S. 30 (1970)
• Chapman v. United States · 365 U.S. 610 (1961)
• Rowan v. United States Post Office Department · 397 U.S. 728 (1970)
• Frost & Frost Trucking Co. v. Railroad Comm'n of Cal. · 271 U.S. 583 (1926)
• Hannegan v. Esquire, Inc. · 327 U.S. 146 (1946)

Cited by

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

• New York State Department of Social Services v. Dublino · 413 U.S. 405 (1973)
• Michigan v. Tyler · 436 U.S. 499 (1978)
• South Dakota v. Opperman · 428 U.S. 364 (1976)
• Griffin v. Wisconsin · 483 U.S. 868 (1987)
• Steagald v. United States · 451 U.S. 204 (1981)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz · 496 U.S. 444 (1990)
• National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab · 489 U.S. 656 (1989)
• Soldal v. Cook County · 506 U.S. 56 (1992)
• California v. LaRue · 409 U.S. 109 (1972)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Harry Andrew Blackmun’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).