Church of Scientology of California v. Internal Revenue Service

484 U.S. 9 · Decided November 10, 1987 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Church of Scientology of California v. Internal Revenue Service was decided on November 10, 1987 unanimously (6–0). The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Freedom of Information Act and related laws” in the Privacy area.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: William J. Brennan Jr., Antonin Scalia.

Full case caption

Church of Scientology of California v. Internal Revenue Service

SCDB identifiers: case 1987-003, docket 1987-003-01.

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Other cases on “Freedom of Information Act and related laws”

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  491 U.S. 440Decided June 21, 19898–0William J. Brennan Jr.
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  492 U.S. 136Decided June 23, 19898–1Thurgood Marshall
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Cases on the same legal provision: Internal Revenue Code

• Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. McCoy
  484 U.S. 3Decided October 19, 19877–1Per curiam
• Arkansas Best Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
  485 U.S. 212Decided March 7, 19888–0Thurgood Marshall
• Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Jesse C. Bollinger
  485 U.S. 340Decided March 22, 19888–0Antonin Scalia
• United States v. Wells Fargo Bank
  485 U.S. 351Decided March 23, 19888–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Fink
  483 U.S. 89Decided June 22, 19878–1Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Asphalt Products Co., Inc.
  482 U.S. 117Decided June 1, 19877–2Per curiam

Same Term, same area (Privacy)

• Neal F. Hartigan v. David Zbaraz and Allan G. Charles Etc.Law held unconstitutional
  484 U.S. 171Decided December 14, 19874–4

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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