Orr v. Orr

440 U.S. 268 · Decided March 5, 1979 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Orr v. Orr was decided on March 5, 1979 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Sex discrimination (excluding employment)” in the Civil Rights 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

Orr v. Orr

SCDB identifiers: case 1978-049, docket 1978-049-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Sex discrimination (excluding employment)”

• Harlin v. Missouri
  439 U.S. 459Decided January 15, 19798–1Per curiam
• Parham v. Hughes
  441 U.S. 347Decided April 24, 19795–4Potter Stewart
• Caban v. Mohammed et Ux.Law held unconstitutional
  441 U.S. 380Decided April 24, 19795–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Duren v. MissouriAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  439 U.S. 357Decided January 9, 19798–1Byron R. White
• Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney
  442 U.S. 256Decided June 5, 19797–2Potter Stewart
• Wengler v. Druggists Mutual Insurance Co.Law held unconstitutional
  446 U.S. 142Decided April 22, 19808–1Byron R. White

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

• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers PartyLaw held unconstitutional
  440 U.S. 173Decided February 22, 19799–0Thurgood Marshall
• Ambach v. Norwick
  441 U.S. 68Decided April 17, 19795–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Lalli v. Lalli
  439 U.S. 259Decided December 11, 19785–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa
  439 U.S. 60Decided November 28, 19786–3William H. Rehnquist
• Columbus Board of Education v. Penick
  443 U.S. 449Decided July 2, 19797–2Byron R. White
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman
  443 U.S. 526Decided July 2, 19795–4Byron R. White

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Board of Trustees of Keene State College v. Sweeney
  439 U.S. 24Decided November 13, 19785–4Per curiam
• Dougherty County v. White
  439 U.S. 32Decided November 28, 19785–4Thurgood Marshall
• Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa
  439 U.S. 60Decided November 28, 19786–3William H. Rehnquist
• Califano v. Aznavorian
  439 U.S. 170Decided December 11, 19789–0Potter Stewart
• Lalli v. Lalli
  439 U.S. 259Decided December 11, 19785–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Duren v. MissouriAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  439 U.S. 357Decided January 9, 19798–1Byron 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