Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia Ex Rel. Virginia State Bar

Decided April 20, 1964. Hugo Lafayette Black delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 34 · 377 U.S. 1 (1964) · Cited 396 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 6–2.

“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.

• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners of NM · 353 U.S. 232 (1957)
• Second Employers'liability Cases · 223 U.S. 1 (1912)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Gallick v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad · 372 U.S. 108 (1963)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee · 372 U.S. 539 (1963)
• Semler v. Oregon State Board of Dental Examiners · 294 U.S. 608 (1935)
• The Employers'liability Cases · 207 U.S. 463 (1908)
• Konigsberg v. State Bar of Cal. · 353 U.S. 252 (1957)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Gremillion v. National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People · 366 U.S. 293 (1961)

Cited by

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

• United Mine Workers v. Illinois State Bar Ass'n · 389 U.S. 217 (1967)
• United Transportation Union v. State Bar of Michigan · 401 U.S. 576 (1971)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• In Re Primus · 436 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees, Local 1315 · 441 U.S. 463 (1979)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri · 564 U.S. 379 (2011)
• Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited · 404 U.S. 508 (1972)
• Bates v. State Bar of Arizona · 433 U.S. 350 (1977)
• Gulf Oil Co. v. Bernard · 452 U.S. 89 (1981)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 559 (1965)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• Florida Bar v. Went for It, Inc. · 515 U.S. 618 (1995)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Lyng v. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers · 485 U.S. 360 (1988)

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).