Batson v. Kentucky

Decided April 30, 1986. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-6263 · 476 U.S. 79 (1986) · Cited 16,401 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 7–2.

“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.

• Swain v. Alabama · 380 U.S. 202 (1965)
• Strauder v. West Virginia · 100 U.S. 303 (1880)
• Lewis v. United States · 146 U.S. 370 (1892)
• Neal v. Delaware · 103 U.S. 370 (1881)
• McCray v. New York · 461 U.S. 961 (1983)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Castaneda v. Partida · 430 U.S. 482 (1977)
• Alexander v. Louisiana · 405 U.S. 625 (1972)
• Avery v. Georgia · 345 U.S. 559 (1953)
• Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Taylor v. Louisiana · 419 U.S. 522 (1975)
• Whitus v. Georgia · 385 U.S. 545 (1967)
• Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine · 450 U.S. 248 (1981)
• Hernandez v. Texas · 347 U.S. 475 (1954)
• Norris v. Alabama · 294 U.S. 587 (1935)
• Hayes v. Missouri · 120 U.S. 68 (1887)
• Akins v. Texas · 325 U.S. 398 (1945)
• Martin v. Texas · 200 U.S. 316 (1906)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Rose v. Mitchell · 443 U.S. 545 (1979)
• Solem v. Stumes · 465 U.S. 638 (1984)
• Anderson v. City of Bessemer City · 470 U.S. 564 (1985)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Thiel v. Southern Pacific Co. · 328 U.S. 217 (1946)
• Cassell v. Texas · 339 U.S. 282 (1950)
• Carter v. Jury Comm'n of Greene Cty. · 396 U.S. 320 (1970)
• DeStefano v. Woods · 392 U.S. 631 (1968)
• Stilson v. United States · 250 U.S. 583 (1919)

Cited by

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

• Miller-El v. Dretke · 545 U.S. 231 (2005)
• Flowers v. Mississippi · 588 U.S. 284 (2019)
• Miller-El v. Cockrell · 537 U.S. 322 (2003)
• Holland v. Illinois · 493 U.S. 474 (1990)
• Foster v. Chatman · 578 U.S. 488 (2016)
• Purkett v. Elem · 514 U.S. 765 (1995)
• Johnson v. California · 545 U.S. 162 (2005)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• JEB v. Alabama Ex Rel. TB · 511 U.S. 127 (1994)
• Powers v. Ohio · 499 U.S. 400 (1991)
• Snyder v. Louisiana · 552 U.S. 472 (2008)
• Ford v. Georgia · 498 U.S. 411 (1991)
• Davis v. Ayala · 576 U.S. 257 (2015)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Allen v. Hardy · 478 U.S. 255 (1986)
• Georgia v. McCollum · 505 U.S. 42 (1992)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Rice v. Collins · 546 U.S. 333 (2006)
• Griffith v. Kentucky · 479 U.S. 314 (1987)
• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• Rivera v. Illinois · 556 U.S. 148 (2009)
• Felkner v. Jackson · 562 U.S. 594 (2011)
• United States v. Armstrong · 517 U.S. 456 (1996)
• Gray v. Mississippi · 481 U.S. 648 (1987)
• Wearry v. Cain · 577 U.S. 385 (2016)
• Campbell v. Louisiana · 523 U.S. 392 (1998)
• Edwards v. Vannoy · 593 U.S. 255 (2021)
• Rose v. Clark · 478 U.S. 570 (1986)
• White v. Woodall · 572 U.S. 415 (2014)
• Weaver v. Massachusetts · 582 U.S. 286 (2017)

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).