Board of Estimate of City of New York et al. v. Morris et al.
Decided March 22, 1989. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 87-1022 · 489 U.S. 688 (1989) · Cited 138 times
Holding
The Board of Estimate's structure is inconsistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because, although the boroughs have widely disparate populations, each has equal representation on the board.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 6
- Byron Raymond White · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 3
- Harry Andrew Blackmun · filed a concurring opinion
- John Paul Stevens
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
“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)
- Abate v. Mundt · 403 U.S. 182 (1971)
- Avery v. Midland County · 390 U.S. 474 (1968)
- Hadley v. Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City · 397 U.S. 50 (1970)
- Whitcomb v. Chavis · 403 U.S. 124 (1971)
- Gaffney v. Cummings · 412 U.S. 735 (1973)
- Brown v. Thomson · 462 U.S. 835 (1983)
- Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
- Wesberry v. Sanders · 376 U.S. 1 (1964)
- Lucas v. Forty-Fourth General Assembly of Colorado · 377 U.S. 713 (1964)
- Mahan v. Howell · 410 U.S. 315 (1973)
- Chapman v. Meier · 420 U.S. 1 (1975)
- Connor v. Finch · 431 U.S. 407 (1977)
- Maryland Committee for Fair Representation v. Tawes · 377 U.S. 656 (1964)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Missouri v. Jenkins · 495 U.S. 33 (1990)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).