District of Columbia v. Carter

Decided January 10, 1973. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-564 · 409 U.S. 418 (1973) · Cited 731 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 9–0.

“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.

• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• Civil Rights Cases · 109 U.S. 3 (1883)
• Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers, Inc. v. United States · 286 U.S. 427 (1932)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• United States v. Price · 383 U.S. 787 (1966)
• United States v. Guest · 383 U.S. 745 (1966)
• Glidden Co. v. Zdanok · 370 U.S. 530 (1962)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)
• Griffin v. Breckenridge · 403 U.S. 88 (1971)
• Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
• Zwickler v. Koota · 389 U.S. 241 (1967)
• United States v. Cruikshank · 92 U.S. 542 (1876)
• Berman v. Parker · 348 U.S. 26 (1954)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Evans v. Newton · 382 U.S. 296 (1966)
• Lynch v. Household Finance Corp. · 405 U.S. 538 (1972)
• Helvering v. Stockholms Enskilda Bank · 293 U.S. 84 (1934)
• Puerto Rico v. Shell Co. (PR), Ltd. · 302 U.S. 253 (1937)
• Hurd v. Hodge · 334 U.S. 24 (1948)
• National Mutual Insurance v. Tidewater Transfer Co. · 337 U.S. 582 (1949)
• Clyatt v. United States · 197 U.S. 207 (1905)
• United States v. Harris · 106 U.S. 629 (1883)
• District of Columbia v. Murphy · 314 U.S. 441 (1941)
• Geofroy v. Riggs · 133 U.S. 258 (1890)
• District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. · 346 U.S. 100 (1953)
• United States v. Williams · 341 U.S. 70 (1951)
• McAllister v. United States · 141 U.S. 174 (1891)

Cited by

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

• Ngiraingas v. Sanchez · 495 U.S. 182 (1990)
• Examining Bd. of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors v. Flores De Otero · 426 U.S. 572 (1976)
• Jett v. Dallas Independent School District · 491 U.S. 701 (1989)
• Maine v. Thiboutot · 448 U.S. 1 (1980)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• Financial Oversight and Management Bd. for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC · 590 U.S. 448 (2020)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Chapman v. Houston Welfare Rights Organization · 441 U.S. 600 (1979)
• Great American Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Novotny · 442 U.S. 366 (1979)
• Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co. · 482 U.S. 656 (1987)
• Sullivan v. Stroop · 496 U.S. 478 (1990)
• Pernell v. Southall Realty · 416 U.S. 363 (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).