Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc.

472 U.S. 703 · Decided June 26, 1985 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. was decided on June 26, 1985 by a vote of 8–1. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Establishment of religion” in the First Amendment area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.

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

Estate of Thornton et al. v. Caldor, Inc.

SCDB identifiers: case 1984-140, docket 1984-140-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: First Amendment (establishment of religion)

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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

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• Board of Education of Oklahoma City v. National Gay Task ForceLaw held unconstitutional
  470 U.S. 903Decided March 26, 19854–4
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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