Britt v. North Carolina

Decided December 13, 1971. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-5041 · 404 U.S. 226 (1971) · Cited 727 times

Holding

In the narrow circumstances of this case, a transcript was not needed for petitioner's defense.

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 5–2.

“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.

• Roberts v. LaVallee · 389 U.S. 40 (1967)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• Long v. District Court of Iowa, Lee Cty. · 385 U.S. 192 (1966)
• Eskridge v. Washington State Board of Prison Terms & Paroles · 357 U.S. 214 (1958)
• Gardner v. California · 393 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Draper v. Washington · 372 U.S. 487 (1963)
• Williams v. Oklahoma City · 395 U.S. 458 (1969)
• Anders v. California · 386 U.S. 738 (1967)
• Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• Douglas v. California · 372 U.S. 353 (1963)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• Jencks v. United States · 353 U.S. 657 (1957)
• Dennis v. United States · 384 U.S. 855 (1966)
• Avery v. Alabama · 308 U.S. 444 (1940)
• Pyle v. Kansas · 317 U.S. 213 (1942)
• Goldman v. United States · 316 U.S. 129 (1942)
• Smith v. Bennett · 365 U.S. 708 (1961)
• Burns v. Ohio · 360 U.S. 252 (1959)
• Hardy v. United States · 375 U.S. 277 (1964)
• Swenson v. Bosler · 386 U.S. 258 (1967)

Cited by

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

• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Ake v. Oklahoma · 470 U.S. 68 (1985)
• Mathews v. United States · 485 U.S. 58 (1988)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1971). 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).