Free Enterprise Fund and Beckstead and Watts v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
561 U.S. 477 · Decided June 28, 2010 · Supreme Court of the United States
At a glance
Free Enterprise Fund and Beckstead and Watts v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was decided on June 28, 2010 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision in part, reversed or vacated it in part, and remanded the case. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the opinion announcing the judgment of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Executive authority versus Congress or the states” in the Miscellaneous area. SCDB records that the Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 561 U.S. 477 · 130 S. Ct. 3138 · 177 L. Ed. 2d 706 · 2010 U.S. LEXIS 5524
- Docket number
- 08-861
- Decided
- June 28, 2010
- Argued
- December 7, 2009
- Court era
- Roberts Court
- Decision type
- Judgment of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- John G. Roberts Jr.
- Opinion assigned by
- John G. Roberts Jr.
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue area
- Miscellaneous
- Legal provision
- Article II, Section 1 (executive power)
- Type of law
- Constitution
- Held unconstitutional
- An act of Congress
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Dissent | |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority | |
| Justice Anthony M. Kennedy | Majority | |
| Justice Clarence Thomas | Majority | |
| Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Dissent | |
| Justice Stephen G. Breyer | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Sonia Sotomayor | Dissent |
Full case caption
Free Enterprise Fund and Beckstead and Watts, LLP v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board et al.
SCDB identifiers: case 2009-088, docket 2009-088-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Executive authority versus Congress or the states”
- Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky v. Hillary Rodham Clinton
- NLRB v. Noel Canning
- Zivotofsky v. KerryLaw held unconstitutional
- NLRB v. Sw General, Inc.
- Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection BureauLaw held unconstitutional
- Trump v. Mazars USA
Cases on the same legal provision: Article II, Section 1 (executive power)
- Bosse v. Oklahoma
- American Insurance Association v. John Garamendi
- Trump v. Vance
- Trump v. United States
- Zschernig v. MillerLaw held unconstitutional
- Ray v. Blair
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