This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 478 of the United States Reports:
| Case name | Citation | Date decided |
|---|---|---|
| Press-Enterprise Co. v. Super. Ct. | 478 U.S. 1 | 1986 |
| Thornburg v. Gingles | 478 U.S. 30 | 1986 |
| Davis v. Bandemer | 478 U.S. 109 | 1986 |
| Bowers v. Hardwick | 478 U.S. 186 | 1986 |
| Japan Whaling Ass'n. v. American Cetacean Soc. | 478 U.S. 221 | 1986 |
| Acosta v. Louisiana Dept. of Health & Human Resources | 478 U.S. 251 | 1986 |
| Allen v. Hardy | 478 U.S. 255 | 1986 |
| Papasan v. Allain | 478 U.S. 265 | 1986 |
| Library of Congress v. Shaw | 478 U.S. 310 | 1986 |
| Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of P. R. | 478 U.S. 328 | 1986 |
| Allen v. Illinois | 478 U.S. 364 | 1986 |
| Bazemore v. Friday | 478 U.S. 385 | 1986 |
| Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC | 478 U.S. 421 | 1986 |
| Firefighters v. City of Cleveland | 478 U.S. 501 | 1986 |
| Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council | 478 U.S. 546 | 1986 |
| Rose v. Clark | 478 U.S. 570 | 1986 |
| United States v. James | 478 U.S. 597 | 1986 |
| Baker v. Gen. Motors Corp. | 478 U.S. 621 | 1986 |
| Randall v. Loftsgaarden | 478 U.S. 647 | 1986 |
| Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser | 478 U.S. 675 | 1986 |
| Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc. | 478 U.S. 697 | 1986 |
| Bowsher v. Synar | 478 U.S. 714 | 1986 |
| Univ. of Tenn. v. Elliott | 478 U.S. 788 | 1986 |
| Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson | 478 U.S. 804 | 1986 |
| Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n v. Schor | 478 U.S. 833 | 1986 |
| Araneta v. United States | 478 U.S. 1301 | 1986 |
| Mikutaitis v. United States | 478 U.S. 1306 | 1986 |
| Prudential Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Flanigan | 478 U.S. 1311 | 1986 |