Youngberg, Superintendent, Pennhurst State School and Hospital, et al. v. Romeo, an Incompetent, by His Mother and Next Friend, Romeo

Decided June 18, 1982. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-1429 · 457 U.S. 307 (1982) · Cited 2,433 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 9–0.

“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.

• Jackson v. Indiana · 406 U.S. 715 (1972)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Estelle v. Gamble · 429 U.S. 97 (1976)
• Parham v. J. R. · 442 U.S. 584 (1979)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Addington v. Texas · 441 U.S. 418 (1979)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Scheuer v. Rhodes · 416 U.S. 232 (1974)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Rhodes v. Chapman · 452 U.S. 337 (1981)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal & Correctional Complex · 442 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Vitek v. Jones · 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Poe v. Ullman · 367 U.S. 497 (1961)
• Dothard v. Rawlinson · 433 U.S. 321 (1977)
• Maher v. Roe · 432 U.S. 464 (1977)
• Richardson v. Belcher · 404 U.S. 78 (1971)
• Duignan v. United States · 274 U.S. 195 (1927)

Cited by

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

• DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services · 489 U.S. 189 (1989)
• Washington v. Harper · 494 U.S. 210 (1990)
• Cruzan Ex Rel. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health · 497 U.S. 261 (1990)
• United States v. Comstock · 560 U.S. 126 (2010)
• Washington v. Glucksberg · 521 U.S. 702 (1997)
• Foucha v. Louisiana · 504 U.S. 71 (1992)
• Heller v. Doe Ex Rel. Doe · 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
• Davidson v. Cannon · 474 U.S. 344 (1986)
• West v. Atkins · 487 U.S. 42 (1988)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 465 U.S. 89 (1984)
• County of Sacramento v. Lewis · 523 U.S. 833 (1998)
• Helling v. McKinney · 509 U.S. 25 (1993)
• Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
• Whitley v. Albers · 475 U.S. 312 (1986)
• Collins v. City of Harker Heights · 503 U.S. 115 (1992)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• City of Revere v. Massachusetts General Hospital · 463 U.S. 239 (1983)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing · 474 U.S. 214 (1985)
• Tennessee v. Lane · 541 U.S. 509 (2004)
• Jones v. United States · 463 U.S. 354 (1983)
• Olmstead v. L.C. · 527 U.S. 581 (1999)
• Seling v. Young · 531 U.S. 250 (2001)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell 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).