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417 U.S. 281

94 S. Ct. 2247

41 L. Ed. 2d 70

Docket No. 73—1283.

Poe v. Gerstein

Supreme Court of the United States · decided June 3, 1974.

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“whether or not the declaratory judgment was itself properly issued, a question on which we intimate no opinion, the District Court properly refused to issue the injunction.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including Wilson v. Edelman

“it was anticipated that the State would respect the declaratory judgment”

quoted by 1 later decision, including Robinson v. Hunt County, Texas

Relies on Roe v. Wade · Dombrowski v. Pfister · Zwickler v. Koota

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · 9–0 · Opinion by Per Curiam · Decided June 3, 1974.

How this case has been cited

Cited by 86 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently September 2023 · most notably National Welfare Rights Organization v. Mathews (1976), Planned Parenthood Association v. Fitzpatrick (1975)

29 federal appellate · 12 district · 10 state decisions

420197419801990200020102020decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

PER CURIAM.

¶1

A three-judge District Court entered a declaratory judgment holding unconstitutional a Florida statute, Fla.Stat.Ann. § 458.22(3) (Supp.1974—1975), which forbids an abortion without the consent of the husband, if the woman is married, and if unmarried and under the age of 18, without the consent of a parent. Because it was anticipated that the State would respect the declaratory judgment, the court declined to issue an injunction against the enforcement of the statute. The plaintiffs in the District Court are appellants here and challenge the refusal to issue the injunction. The judgment of the District Court is affirmed in this respect. Whether or not the declaratory judgment was itself properly issued, a question on which we intimate no opinion, the District Court properly refused to issue the injunction; for there was 'no allegation here and no proof that respondents would not, nor can we assume that they will not, acquiesce in the decision . . . holding the challenged ordinance unconstitutional.' Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 165, 63 S.Ct. 877, 881, 87 L.Ed. 1324 (1943). This aspect of Douglas v. City of Jeannette has been repeatedly recognized in later cases. Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U.S. 479, 484—485, 85 S.Ct. 1116, 1119—1120, 14 L.Ed.2d 22 (1965); Zwickler v. Koota, 389 U.S. 241, 253—254, 88 S.Ct. 391, 398, 19 L.Ed.2d 444 (1967); Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 166—167, 93 S.Ct. 705, 733, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973). It is unnecessary to deal separately with the question whether the District Court was correct in denying intervention in the District Court to other parties who are appellants here; for assuming they are to be considered proper parties in the District Court and in this Court, we would affirm the denial of the injunction as to them for the same reasons we affirm the denial of such relief to appellants who were plaintiffs below.

¶2

So ordered.

¶3

Denial of injunction affirmed.

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