Cleveland Board of Education et al. v. Lafleur et al.

Decided January 21, 1974. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-777 · 414 U.S. 632 (1974) · Cited 995 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 7–2.

“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.

• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Stanley v. Illinois · 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Truax v. Raich · 239 U.S. 33 (1915)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Murry · 413 U.S. 508 (1973)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Bell v. Burson · 402 U.S. 535 (1971)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Frontiero v. Richardson · 411 U.S. 677 (1973)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)

Cited by

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

• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Obergefell v. Hodges · 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
• Michael H. v. Gerald D. · 491 U.S. 110 (1989)
• City of Oklahoma v. Tuttle · 471 U.S. 808 (1985)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality & Reform · 431 U.S. 816 (1977)
• Bowen v. Gilliard · 483 U.S. 587 (1987)
• Hodgson v. Minnesota · 497 U.S. 417 (1990)
• Santosky v. Kramer · 455 U.S. 745 (1982)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Quilloin v. Walcott · 434 U.S. 246 (1978)
• Carey v. Population Services International · 431 U.S. 678 (1977)
• Cruzan Ex Rel. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health · 497 U.S. 261 (1990)
• United States v. Locke · 471 U.S. 84 (1985)
• Fiallo Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Bell · 430 U.S. 787 (1977)
• Block v. Rutherford · 468 U.S. 576 (1984)
• Jimenez v. Weinberger · 417 U.S. 628 (1974)
• H. L. v. Matheson · 450 U.S. 398 (1981)

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).