Mathews v. Eldridge

424 U.S. 319 · Decided February 24, 1976 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Mathews v. Eldridge was decided on February 24, 1976 by a vote of 6–2. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. 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

Did not participate: John Paul Stevens.

Full case caption

Mathews, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare v. Eldridge

SCDB identifiers: case 1975-035, docket 1975-035-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Poverty law, constitutional”

• Lavine v. Milne
  424 U.S. 577Decided March 3, 19768–0Byron R. White
• Weinberger v. Salfi
  422 U.S. 749Decided June 26, 19756–3William H. Rehnquist
• Knebel v. Hein
  429 U.S. 288Decided January 11, 19779–0John Paul Stevens
• Califano v. Jobst
  434 U.S. 47Decided November 8, 19779–0John Paul Stevens
• Idaho Department of Employment v. Smith
  434 U.S. 100Decided December 5, 19776–3Per curiam
• Zablocki v. RedhailLaw held unconstitutional
  434 U.S. 374Decided January 18, 19788–1Thurgood Marshall

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (due process)

• United States v. Powell
  423 U.S. 87Decided December 2, 19758–0William H. Rehnquist
• Mathews v. Diaz
  426 U.S. 67Decided June 1, 19769–0John Paul Stevens
• Hampton v. Mow Sun WongLaw held unconstitutional
  426 U.S. 88Decided June 1, 19765–4John Paul Stevens
• United States v. Agurs
  427 U.S. 97Decided June 24, 19767–2John Paul Stevens
• Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co.
  428 U.S. 1Decided July 1, 19766–2Thurgood Marshall
• Moody v. Daggett
  429 U.S. 78Decided November 15, 19767–2Warren E. Burger

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Turner v. Department of Employment Security of UtahLaw held unconstitutional
  423 U.S. 44Decided November 17, 19755–3Per curiam
• De Canas v. Bica
  424 U.S. 351Decided February 25, 19768–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Fisher v. District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana
  424 U.S. 382Decided March 1, 19769–0Per curiam
• Imbler v. Pachtman
  424 U.S. 409Decided March 2, 19768–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Lavine v. Milne
  424 U.S. 577Decided March 3, 19768–0Byron R. White
• East Carroll Parish School Board v. Marshall
  424 U.S. 636Decided March 8, 19769–0Per curiam

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