Brown et al. v. Thomson, Secretary of State of Wyoming, et al.
Decided June 22, 1983. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 82-65 · 462 U.S. 835 (1983) · Cited 283 times
Holding
Wyoming has not violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by permitting Niobrara County to have its own representative.
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 5–4.
Majority · 3
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Warren Earl Burger
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 2
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 4
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · filed a dissenting 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)
- Mahan v. Howell · 410 U.S. 315 (1973)
- Connor v. Finch · 431 U.S. 407 (1977)
- Gaffney v. Cummings · 412 U.S. 735 (1973)
- Maryland Committee for Fair Representation v. Tawes · 377 U.S. 656 (1964)
- Roman v. Sincock · 377 U.S. 695 (1964)
- Kilgarlin v. Hill · 386 U.S. 120 (1967)
- Lucas v. Forty-Fourth General Assembly of Colorado · 377 U.S. 713 (1964)
- White v. Regester · 412 U.S. 755 (1973)
- Whitcomb v. Chavis · 403 U.S. 124 (1971)
- Swann v. Adams · 385 U.S. 440 (1967)
- Abate v. Mundt · 403 U.S. 182 (1971)
- Chapman v. Meier · 420 U.S. 1 (1975)
- Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
- Burns v. Richardson · 384 U.S. 73 (1966)
- Kirkpatrick v. Preisler · 394 U.S. 526 (1969)
- White v. Weiser · 412 U.S. 783 (1973)
- WMCA, Inc. v. Lomenzo · 377 U.S. 633 (1964)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Voinovich v. Quilter · 507 U.S. 146 (1993)
- Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama · 575 U.S. 254 (2015)
- Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris · 489 U.S. 688 (1989)
- League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry · 548 U.S. 399 (2006)
- Abbott v. Perez · 585 U.S. 579 (2018)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).