Board of Education of Oklahoma City Public Schools, Independent School District No. 89, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma v. Robert L. Dowell et al.

Decided January 15, 1991. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-1080 · 498 U.S. 237 (1991) · Cited 428 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 5–3.

“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.

• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County · 391 U.S. 430 (1968)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 433 U.S. 267 (1977)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• United States v. Swift & Co. · 286 U.S. 106 (1932)
• Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver · 413 U.S. 189 (1973)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 349 U.S. 294 (1955)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 418 U.S. 717 (1974)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 443 U.S. 526 (1979)
• United States v. United Shoe MacHinery Corp. · 391 U.S. 244 (1968)
• Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler · 427 U.S. 424 (1976)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Columbus Board of Education v. Penick · 443 U.S. 449 (1979)
• Wright v. Council of Emporia · 407 U.S. 451 (1972)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• United States v. W. T. Grant Co. · 345 U.S. 629 (1953)
• Milk Wagon Drivers Union, Local 753 v. Meadowmoor Dairies, Inc. · 312 U.S. 287 (1941)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 495 U.S. 33 (1990)
• Sweatt v. Painter · 339 U.S. 629 (1950)
• Davis v. Board of School Comm'rs of Mobile Cty. · 402 U.S. 33 (1971)
• Raney v. Board of Education of Gould School District · 391 U.S. 443 (1968)

Cited by

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

• Freeman v. Pitts · 503 U.S. 467 (1992)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 515 U.S. 70 (1995)
• Horne v. Flores · 557 U.S. 433 (2009)
• United States v. Fordice · 505 U.S. 717 (1992)
• Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail · 502 U.S. 367 (1992)
• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 551 U.S. 701 (2007)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).