Bates et al. v. City of Little Rock et al.

Decided February 23, 1960. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 41 · 361 U.S. 516 (1960) · Cited 775 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 9–0.

“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.

• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• De Jonge v. Oregon · 299 U.S. 353 (1937)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts · 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• James v. Dravo Contracting Co. · 302 U.S. 134 (1937)
• United States v. Rumely · 345 U.S. 41 (1953)
• Kingsley International Pictures Corp. v. Regents of the University · 360 U.S. 684 (1959)
• United States v. Kahriger · 345 U.S. 22 (1953)
• Jones v. Opelika · 316 U.S. 584 (1942)
• Jones v. Opelika · 319 U.S. 103 (1943)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Communist Party of United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. · 367 U.S. 1 (1961)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee · 372 U.S. 539 (1963)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Kusper v. Pontikes · 414 U.S. 51 (1973)
• Talley v. California · 362 U.S. 60 (1960)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Cousins v. Wigoda · 419 U.S. 477 (1975)
• Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta · 594 U.S. 595 (2021)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Whalen v. Roe · 429 U.S. 589 (1977)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut · 479 U.S. 208 (1986)
• Konigsberg v. State Bar of Cal. · 366 U.S. 36 (1961)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Baird v. State Bar of Arizona · 401 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Law Students Civil Rights Research Council, Inc. v. Wadmond · 401 U.S. 154 (1971)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Gremillion v. National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People · 366 U.S. 293 (1961)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)

Official text

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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).