Block v. North Dakota ex Rel. Board of University and School Lands

461 U.S. 273 · Decided May 2, 1983 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Block v. North Dakota ex Rel. Board of University and School Lands was decided on May 2, 1983 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Federal preemption of state court jurisdiction” in the Federalism area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Block, Secretary of Agriculture, et al. v. North Dakota ex Rel. Board of University and School Lands

SCDB identifiers: case 1982-071, docket 1982-071-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: 28 U.S.C. § 2409

• United States v. Mottaz
  476 U.S. 834Decided June 11, 19869–0Harry A. Blackmun
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  440 U.S. 59Decided February 22, 19799–0Potter Stewart

Same Term, same area (Federalism)

• California ex Rel. State Lands Commission v. United States
  459 U.S. 1Decided October 18, 19829–0
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  460 U.S. 300Decided March 7, 19837–2Harry A. Blackmun
• Local 926 v. Jones
  460 U.S. 669Decided April 4, 19836–3Byron R. White
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission
  461 U.S. 190Decided April 20, 19839–0Byron R. White
• Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. v. Arkansas Public Service Commission
  461 U.S. 375Decided May 16, 19837–2William J. Brennan Jr.
• Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board
  461 U.S. 731Decided May 31, 19839–0Byron R. White

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error