Home/Case law/Wyoming v. United States (In re Big Horn River System adjudication)

Wyoming v. United States (In re Big Horn River System adjudication)

492 U.S. 406 · 1989 · Supreme Court of the United States

Holding

In a one-line per curiam, an equally divided Court (Justice O'Connor not participating) affirmed the Wyoming Supreme Court's judgment in the Big Horn River general adjudication, In re General Adjudication of All Rights to Use Water in the Big Horn River System, 753 P.2d 76 (Wyo. 1988), which had recognized reserved water rights for the Wind River Reservation.

"The judgment below is affirmed by an equally divided Court." — Per curiam, Wyoming v. United States, 492 U.S. 406 (1989)

Why it matters for settlements

Left the Big Horn PIA-based quantification of the Wind River Reservation's reserved rights standing, but an equally divided affirmance sets no nationwide precedent.

Read the primary record (courtlistener.com)

Task brief suggested a '509 U.S.-era' citation; the verified citation is 492 U.S. 406, decided 1989-06-26 (No. 88-309). Both fetched sources agree. The underlying merits reasoning lives in the Wyoming Supreme Court's 753 P.2d 76 (1988) opinion, which this dataset cites via the Justia page's own reference; the state opinion itself was not fetched this session.

Sources

CourtListener search API (citation, date, court, canonical URL, per curiam text) (courtlistener.com, retrieved 2026-09-01)
Justia (full per curiam page; confirms 753 P.2d 76 below, No. 88-309, decided June 26, 1989) (supreme.justia.com, retrieved 2026-09-01)