Ball et al. v. James et al.
Decided April 29, 1981. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 79-1740 · 451 U.S. 355 (1981) · Cited 150 times
We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.
How the Justices voted
Decided 5–4.
Majority · 4
- Potter Stewart · delivered the opinion of the Court
- John Paul Stevens
- Warren Earl Burger
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 1
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 4
- Byron Raymond White · filed a dissenting opinion
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
- Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
- Avery v. Midland County · 390 U.S. 474 (1968)
- Salyer Land Co. v. Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District · 410 U.S. 719 (1973)
- Cipriano v. City of Houma · 395 U.S. 701 (1969)
- Hadley v. Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City · 397 U.S. 50 (1970)
- Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co. · 419 U.S. 345 (1974)
- City of Phoenix v. Kolodziejski · 399 U.S. 204 (1970)
- City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co. · 435 U.S. 389 (1978)
- Hill v. Stone · 421 U.S. 289 (1975)
- Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa · 439 U.S. 60 (1978)
- Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
- Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
- Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill · 332 U.S. 380 (1947)
- Indian Towing Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 61 (1955)
- Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
- Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States · 410 U.S. 366 (1973)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Rice v. Cayetano · 528 U.S. 495 (2000)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).