County of Los Angeles et al. v. Davis et al.

Decided March 27, 1979. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1553 · 440 U.S. 625 (1979) · Cited 1,768 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 5–4.

“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.

• DeFunis v. Odegaard · 416 U.S. 312 (1974)
• United States v. W. T. Grant Co. · 345 U.S. 629 (1953)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• United States v. Munsingwear, Inc. · 340 U.S. 36 (1950)
• Linda R. S. v. Richard D. · 410 U.S. 614 (1973)
• O'Connor v. Donaldson · 422 U.S. 563 (1975)
• United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Assn. · 166 U.S. 290 (1897)
• A. L. Mechling Barge Lines, Inc. v. United States · 368 U.S. 324 (1961)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization · 426 U.S. 26 (1976)
• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Steffel v. Thompson · 415 U.S. 452 (1974)
• Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 435 U.S. 519 (1978)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• Doe v. Bolton · 410 U.S. 179 (1973)
• Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc. · 422 U.S. 922 (1975)
• Hecht Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 321 (1944)
• East Texas Motor Freight System, Inc. v. Rodriguez · 431 U.S. 395 (1977)
• Hazelwood School District v. United States · 433 U.S. 299 (1977)
• Dothard v. Rawlinson · 433 U.S. 321 (1977)
• Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver · 413 U.S. 189 (1973)
• Hall v. Beals · 396 U.S. 45 (1969)
• United States v. Oregon State Medical Society · 343 U.S. 326 (1952)
• Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong · 426 U.S. 88 (1976)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, Inc. · 303 U.S. 261 (1938)
• Walling v. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. · 323 U.S. 37 (1944)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Medical Committee for Human Rights · 404 U.S. 403 (1972)
• Nyquist v. Mauclet · 432 U.S. 1 (1977)

Cited by

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

• Vitek v. Jones · 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc. · 455 U.S. 283 (1982)
• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• United Steelworkers of America v. Weber · 443 U.S. 193 (1979)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts · 467 U.S. 561 (1984)
• Iron Arrow Honor Society v. Heckler · 464 U.S. 67 (1983)
• Golden State Transit Corp. v. City of Los Angeles · 475 U.S. 608 (1986)
• City News & Novelty, Inc. v. City of Waukesha · 531 U.S. 278 (2001)
• FBI v. Fikre · 601 U.S. 234 (2024)

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).