Dandridge, Chairman, Maryland Board of Public Welfare, et al. v. Williams et al.

Decided April 6, 1970. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 131 · 397 U.S. 471 (1970) · Cited 3,777 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 5–3.

“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.

• King v. Smith · 392 U.S. 309 (1968)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co. · 220 U.S. 61 (1911)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Levy v. Louisiana Ex Rel. Charity Hospital · 391 U.S. 68 (1968)
• Helvering v. Davis · 301 U.S. 619 (1937)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Douglas v. California · 372 U.S. 353 (1963)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp. of Bay View · 395 U.S. 337 (1969)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Richards v. United States · 369 U.S. 1 (1962)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• Story Parchment Co. v. Paterson Parchment Paper Co. · 282 U.S. 555 (1931)
• Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• Cooper v. Aaron · 358 U.S. 1 (1958)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Langnes v. Green · 282 U.S. 531 (1931)
• Griffin v. School Bd. of Prince Edward Cty. · 377 U.S. 218 (1964)
• Steward MacHine Co. v. Davis · 301 U.S. 548 (1937)
• Rinaldi v. Yeager · 384 U.S. 305 (1966)
• Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York · 336 U.S. 106 (1949)
• United States & Interstate Commerce Commission v. American Railway Express Co. · 265 U.S. 425 (1924)
• Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fé Railway Co. v. Ellis · 165 U.S. 150 (1897)
• Morey v. Doud · 354 U.S. 457 (1957)

Cited by

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

• Jefferson v. Hackney · 406 U.S. 535 (1972)
• Hagans v. Lavine · 415 U.S. 528 (1974)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County · 415 U.S. 250 (1974)
• Richardson v. Belcher · 404 U.S. 78 (1971)
• Jimenez v. Weinberger · 417 U.S. 628 (1974)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• New York State Department of Social Services v. Dublino · 413 U.S. 405 (1973)
• Weinberger v. Salfi · 422 U.S. 749 (1975)
• Schweiker v. Wilson · 450 U.S. 221 (1981)
• Saenz v. Roe · 526 U.S. 489 (1999)
• Wyman v. James · 400 U.S. 309 (1971)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Murry · 413 U.S. 508 (1973)
• Heller v. Doe Ex Rel. Doe · 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz · 449 U.S. 166 (1980)
• United States v. Kras · 409 U.S. 434 (1973)
• Geduldig v. Aiello · 417 U.S. 484 (1974)
• Ohio Bureau of Employment Services v. Hodory · 431 U.S. 471 (1977)
• Bowen v. Gilliard · 483 U.S. 587 (1987)
• Quern v. Mandley · 436 U.S. 725 (1978)
• Youngberg v. Romeo Ex Rel. Romeo · 457 U.S. 307 (1982)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Beach Communications, Inc. · 508 U.S. 307 (1993)
• Craig v. Boren · 429 U.S. 190 (1976)
• Vance v. Bradley · 440 U.S. 93 (1979)
• Bragdon v. Abbott · 524 U.S. 624 (1998)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur · 414 U.S. 632 (1974)

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).