United States v. Mendoza-Lopez

481 U.S. 828 · Decided May 26, 1987 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States v. Mendoza-Lopez was decided on May 26, 1987 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Deportation” 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

United States v. Mendoza-Lopez et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1986-105, docket 1986-105-01.

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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