Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Decided May 19, 1958. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 57 · 356 U.S. 525 (1958) · Cited 922 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 6–3.

“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.

• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Guaranty Trust Co. v. York · 326 U.S. 99 (1945)
• Herron v. Southern Pacific Co. · 283 U.S. 91 (1931)
• Bernhardt v. Polygraphic Co. of America, Inc. · 350 U.S. 198 (1956)
• Ragan v. Merchants Transfer & Warehouse Co. · 337 U.S. 530 (1949)
• Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co. · 313 U.S. 487 (1941)
• Cities Service Oil Co. v. Dunlap · 308 U.S. 208 (1939)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
• West v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co. · 311 U.S. 223 (1940)
• Sibbach v. Wilson & Co. · 312 U.S. 1 (1941)
• Angel v. Bullington · 330 U.S. 183 (1947)
• Dice v. Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad · 342 U.S. 359 (1952)
• Woods v. Interstate Realty Co. · 337 U.S. 535 (1949)
• Cone v. West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. · 330 U.S. 212 (1947)
• Stoner v. New York Life Insurance · 311 U.S. 464 (1941)
• Jacob v. New York City · 315 U.S. 752 (1942)
• Estate of Spiegel v. Commissioner · 335 U.S. 701 (1949)
• Fountain v. Filson · 336 U.S. 681 (1949)

Cited by

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

• Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, Inc. · 518 U.S. 415 (1996)
• Hanna v. Plumer · 380 U.S. 460 (1965)
• Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore · 439 U.S. 322 (1979)
• Whitley v. Albers · 475 U.S. 312 (1986)
• Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
• Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson · 404 U.S. 97 (1971)
• Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul · 373 U.S. 132 (1963)
• Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. · 532 U.S. 424 (2001)
• Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc. v. Ellerman Lines, Ltd. · 369 U.S. 355 (1962)
• Simler v. Conner · 372 U.S. 221 (1963)
• Donovan v. Penn Shipping Co. · 429 U.S. 648 (1977)
• Perttu v. Richards · 605 U.S. 460 (2025)

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).