Jo Anne B. Barnhart v. Pauline Thomas

540 U.S. 20 · Decided November 12, 2003 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Jo Anne B. Barnhart v. Pauline Thomas was decided on November 12, 2003 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Rights of handicapped persons” 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

Jo Anne B. Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security v. Pauline Thomas

SCDB identifiers: case 2003-003, docket 2003-003-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Rights of handicapped persons”

• Raytheon Company v. Joel Hernandez
  540 U.S. 44Decided December 2, 20037–0Clarence Thomas
• Tennessee v. George Lane
  541 U.S. 509Decided May 17, 20045–4John Paul Stevens
• Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Mario Echazabal
  536 U.S. 73Decided June 10, 20029–0David H. Souter
• Us Airways, Inc. v. Robert Barnett
  535 U.S. 391Decided April 29, 20027–2Stephen G. Breyer
• Douglas Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd.
  545 U.S. 119Decided June 6, 20056–3Anthony M. Kennedy
• Jo Anne B. Barnhart v. Cleveland B. Walton
  535 U.S. 212Decided March 27, 20029–0Stephen G. Breyer

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Social Security Act

• Washington State Department of Social and Health Services v. Guardianship Estate of Danny Keffeler
  537 U.S. 371Decided February 25, 20039–0David H. Souter
• Gary E. Gisbrecht v. Jo Anne B. Barnhart
  535 U.S. 789Decided May 28, 20028–1Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Juatassa Sims v. Kenneth S. Apfel
  530 U.S. 103Decided June 5, 20005–4Clarence Thomas
• Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research v. United States
  562 U.S. 44Decided January 11, 20118–0John G. Roberts Jr.
• Michael J. Astrue v. Karen K. Capato
  566 U.S. 541Decided May 21, 20129–0Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Sue Suter v. Artist M.
  503 U.S. 347Decided March 25, 19927–2William H. Rehnquist

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Raytheon Company v. Joel Hernandez
  540 U.S. 44Decided December 2, 20037–0Clarence Thomas
• General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Dennis Cline
  540 U.S. 581Decided February 24, 20046–3David H. Souter
• Shakur Muhammad v. Mark Close
  540 U.S. 749Decided February 25, 20049–0Per curiam
• United States v. Billy Jo Lara
  541 U.S. 193Decided April 19, 20047–2Stephen G. Breyer
• Tennessee v. George Lane
  541 U.S. 509Decided May 17, 20045–4John Paul Stevens
• David L. Nelson v. Donal Campbell
  541 U.S. 637Decided May 24, 20049–0Sandra Day O'Connor

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