The LedgerPublic Record
BooksThe BooksFloorThe FloorGavelThe GavelDeskThe DeskRaceThe Race
The LedgerPublic Record

Five shelves of federal record. Pick a shelf, then dig in.

Archives refreshed Sep 13, 2026

The Books

  • Overview
  • Rankings
  • Map
  • Historical
  • Awards
  • Composition

The Floor

  • Overview
  • Watchlist
  • Pipeline
  • Votes
  • Members

The Gavel

  • Overview
  • Docket
  • Opinions
  • Justices

The Desk

  • Overview
  • Presidencies
  • Actions

The Race

  • Overview
  • Map
  • Presidency
  • Senate
  • House

Guides

  • Overview
  • Start here
  • Students
  • Reporters
  • Tools

Reference

  • Home
  • Definitions
  • Methodology
  • Data integrity
  • Status
  • Data cache
  • Data dictionary
  • Pricing
  • Usage
  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • For AI agents

Free and open. Accounts optional. Privacy covers anonymous visit data only. Usage covers how to cite and reuse the archives. Contact uses a private form.

  1. Home
  2. ›Definitions
  3. ›Supreme Court
  4. ›Holding

Supreme Court

Holding

The legal rule the Court decides in a case.

What this means

A holding is the binding legal conclusion of a decision. Syllabus text and commentary can help locate it, but the opinion controls.

Related

  • Opinion

    Written decision or separate writing in a case.

  • Syllabus

    Headnote summary that precedes many Court opinions.

All definitions · Methodology