L. Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia, et al. v. Virginia Hospital Association
496 U.S. 498 · No. 88-2043 · 1989 term · Rehnquist Court
Decided Jun 14, 1990 · argued Jan 9, 1990
Judicial power · Standing to sue: statutory standing
Majority opinion: William Brennan
The voteMajorityDissent
5–45 in the majority, 4 in dissent
4 dissents (5–4)
Affirmed. L. Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia, et al. lost.
What this ruling means
Affirmed: the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, so it stands (sometimes with changes the Court made to it).
L. Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia, et al. was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Lost” means the Court did not give that side the result it asked for.
From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.
Summary
The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.
Wikipedia has no article on this case, so there is no summary.
Data notes
The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.
How the justices voted
Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 1989 term. Filled: the 5 in the majority. Hollow: the 4 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.
Majority(5)
William BrennanWrote the majority opinion
Thurgood MarshallJoined the majority
John StevensJoined the majority
Harry BlackmunJoined the majority
Byron WhiteJoined the majority
Dissent(4)
William RehnquistWrote a dissent
Anthony KennedyJoined a dissent
Sandra O'ConnorJoined a dissent
Antonin ScaliaJoined a dissent
Data notes
Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.
Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.
The parties
Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.
- Petitioner
- L. Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia, et al.Governmental official, or an official of an agency established under an interstate compact (Virginia)
- Respondent
- Virginia Hospital AssociationHospital, medical center
- Reached the Court by
- Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
Data notes
The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.
The law at issue
The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.
- Provision
- Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act
- Kind of law
- Federal Statute
- Decided by
- Statutory construction
Data notes
The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.
Timeline
What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.
- Jun 14, 1990DecidedDecided · Decided 5–4: affirmed. L. Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia, et al. lost.
- Jan 9, 1990ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
- Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari).
- Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit: affirmed.
- Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the Virginia Eastern U.S. District Court.
Data notes
From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.
Other decisions on the same issue
16 other argued cases since 1946 on standing to sue: statutory standing, newest first.
- Bank of America Corp. v. City of Miami, Florida137 S. Ct. 1296May 1, 2017 · 137 S. Ct. 1296Judicial power5–36–3 band
- Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak567 U.S. 209Jun 18, 2012 · 567 U.S. 209Judicial power8–18–1 band
- Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Shirley Williams et al.547 U.S. 516Jun 5, 2006 · 547 U.S. 516Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Joseph Anza, et al. v. Ideal Steel Supply Corp.547 U.S. 451Jun 5, 2006 · 547 U.S. 451Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Federal Election Commission v. James E. Akins, Richard Curtiss, Paul Findley, Robert J. Hanks, Andrew Killgore, and Orin Parker524 U.S. 11Jun 1, 1998 · 524 U.S. 11Judicial power6–36–3 band
- Brad Bennett, et al. v. Michael Spear, et al.520 U.S. 154Mar 19, 1997 · 520 U.S. 154Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 751 v. Brown Group, Inc., dba Brown Shoe Company517 U.S. 544May 13, 1996 · 517 U.S. 544Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Department of Labor v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company et al.514 U.S. 122Mar 21, 1995 · 514 U.S. 122Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Robert G. Holmes, Jr. v. Securities Investor Protection Corporation, et al.503 U.S. 258Mar 24, 1992 · 503 U.S. 258Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Keith R. Gollust, et al. v. Ira L. Mendell, etc., et al.501 U.S. 115Jun 10, 1991 · 501 U.S. 115Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Air Courier Conference of America v. American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, et al.498 U.S. 517Feb 26, 1991 · 498 U.S. 517Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Jackson Transit Authority et al. v. Local Division 1285, Amalgamated Transit Union, AFL-CIO-CLC457 U.S. 15Jun 7, 1982 · 457 U.S. 15Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Havens Realty Corp. et al. v. Coleman et al.455 U.S. 363Feb 24, 1982 · 455 U.S. 363Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Gladstone, Realtors, et al. v. Village of Bellwood et al.441 U.S. 91Apr 17, 1979 · 441 U.S. 91Judicial power7–27–2 band
- Trafficante et al. v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. et al.409 U.S. 205Dec 7, 1972 · 409 U.S. 205Judicial power9–0Unanimous band
- Hardin, Mayor of Tazewell, et al. v. Kentucky Utilities Co.390 U.S. 1Jan 16, 1968 · 390 U.S. 1Judicial power6–18–1 band
Data notes
Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.
Official record
Read the full opinion on Justia and the argument audio on Oyez. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.