Knebel v. Hein

429 U.S. 288 · Decided January 11, 1977 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Knebel v. Hein was decided on January 11, 1977 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Poverty law, constitutional” in the Civil Rights 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

Knebel, Secretary of Agriculture v. Hein

SCDB identifiers: case 1976-030, docket 1976-030-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Poverty law, constitutional”

• Califano v. Jobst
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• Mathews v. Eldridge
  424 U.S. 319Decided February 24, 19766–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Idaho Department of Employment v. Smith
  434 U.S. 100Decided December 5, 19776–3Per curiam
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  434 U.S. 374Decided January 18, 19788–1Thurgood Marshall
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  435 U.S. 1Decided February 27, 19787–2Per curiam

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (equal protection)

• Delaware Tribal Business Committee v. Weeks
  430 U.S. 73Decided February 23, 19778–1William J. Brennan Jr.
• Califano v. Webster
  430 U.S. 313Decided March 21, 19779–0Per curiam
• Alexander v. Fioto
  430 U.S. 634Decided April 4, 19778–0John Paul Stevens
• United States v. Antelope
  430 U.S. 641Decided April 19, 19779–0Warren E. Burger
• Mathews v. Lucas
  427 U.S. 495Decided June 29, 19766–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Norton v. Mathews
  427 U.S. 524Decided June 29, 19766–3Harry A. Blackmun

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Bagamasbad
  429 U.S. 24Decided November 1, 19769–0Per curiam
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert
  429 U.S. 125Decided December 7, 19766–3William H. Rehnquist
• Mathews v. de Castro
  429 U.S. 181Decided December 13, 19769–0Potter Stewart
• Craig v. BorenAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  429 U.S. 190Decided December 20, 19767–2William J. Brennan Jr.
• International Union of Electrical v. Robbins & Myers, Inc.
  429 U.S. 229Decided December 20, 19769–0William H. Rehnquist
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp.
  429 U.S. 252Decided January 11, 19775–3Lewis F. Powell Jr.

See all

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