Mathews v. Lucas

427 U.S. 495 · Decided June 29, 1976 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Mathews v. Lucas was decided on June 29, 1976 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Rights of illegitimates” 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

Mathews, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare v. Lucas et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1975-164, docket 1975-164-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Rights of illegitimates”

• Norton v. Mathews
  427 U.S. 524Decided June 29, 19766–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Trimble v. GordonLaw held unconstitutional
  430 U.S. 762Decided April 26, 19775–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Fiallo v. Bell
  430 U.S. 787Decided April 26, 19776–3Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Jimenez v. WeinbergerLaw held unconstitutional
  417 U.S. 628Decided June 19, 19748–1Warren E. Burger
• Lalli v. Lalli
  439 U.S. 259Decided December 11, 19785–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
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  443 U.S. 282Decided June 27, 19795–4William H. Rehnquist

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

• United States v. Maccollom
  426 U.S. 317Decided June 10, 19765–4William H. Rehnquist
• Washington v. Davis
  426 U.S. 229Decided June 7, 19767–2Byron R. White
• Knebel v. Hein
  429 U.S. 288Decided January 11, 19779–0John Paul Stevens
• 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

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
• Mathews v. Eldridge
  424 U.S. 319Decided February 24, 19766–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• 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

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