United States Department of Transportation v. Paralyzed Veterans of America

477 U.S. 597 · Decided June 27, 1986 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

United States Department of Transportation v. Paralyzed Veterans of America was decided on June 27, 1986 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. 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

United States Department of Transportation et al. v. Paralyzed Veterans of America et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1985-137, docket 1985-137-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Rights of handicapped persons”

• Bowen v. American Hospital Association
  476 U.S. 610Decided June 9, 19865–3John Paul Stevens
• Bowen v. City of New York
  476 U.S. 467Decided June 2, 19869–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• School Board of Nassau County v. Arline
  480 U.S. 273Decided March 3, 19877–2William J. Brennan Jr.
• School Committee of the Town of Burlington v. Department of Education of Massachusetts
  471 U.S. 359Decided April 29, 19859–0William H. Rehnquist
• Alexander v. Choate
  469 U.S. 287Decided January 9, 19859–0Thurgood Marshall
• Honig v. Doe
  484 U.S. 305Decided January 20, 19886–2William J. Brennan Jr.

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Rehabilitation Act

• Smith v. Robinson
  468 U.S. 992Decided July 5, 19846–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Darrone
  465 U.S. 624Decided February 24, 19849–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Community Television of Southern California v. Gottfried
  459 U.S. 498Decided February 22, 19837–2John Paul Stevens
• Southeastern Community College v. Davis
  442 U.S. 397Decided June 11, 19799–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• James Griffin Lane v. Federico F. Pena
  518 U.S. 187Decided June 20, 19967–2Sandra Day O'Connor

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• California State Board of Equalization v. Chemehuevi Indian Tribe
  474 U.S. 9Decided November 4, 19855–4Per curiam
• Green v. Mansour
  474 U.S. 64Decided December 3, 19855–4William H. Rehnquist
• Vasquez v. Hillery
  474 U.S. 254Decided January 14, 19866–3Thurgood Marshall
• Daniels v. WilliamsAltered precedent
  474 U.S. 327Decided January 21, 19869–0William H. Rehnquist
• Davidson v. Cannon
  474 U.S. 344Decided January 21, 19866–3William H. Rehnquist
• Malley v. Briggs
  475 U.S. 335Decided March 5, 19867–2Byron 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