Smith v. Wade

461 U.S. 30 · Decided April 20, 1983 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Smith v. Wade was decided on April 20, 1983 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Liability under civil rights acts” 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

Smith v. Wade

SCDB identifiers: case 1982-063, docket 1982-063-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Reconstruction Civil Rights Acts)

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Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

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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