Dougherty County, Georgia, Board of Education et al. v. White
Decided November 28, 1978. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 77-120 · 439 U.S. 32 (1978) · Cited 103 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.
Majority · 4
- Thurgood Marshall · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Concurring · 1
- John Paul Stevens · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 4
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. · filed a dissenting opinion
- Potter Stewart · filed a dissenting opinion
- Warren Earl Burger
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
“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.
- Allen v. State Board of Elections · 393 U.S. 544 (1969)
- United States v. Sheffield Bd. of Comm'rs · 435 U.S. 110 (1978)
- Perkins v. Matthews · 400 U.S. 379 (1971)
- Georgia v. United States · 411 U.S. 526 (1973)
- South Carolina v. Katzenbach · 383 U.S. 301 (1966)
- Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
- City of Richmond v. United States · 422 U.S. 358 (1975)
- Lubin v. Panish · 415 U.S. 709 (1974)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Presley v. Etowah County Commission · 502 U.S. 491 (1992)
- Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
- Holder v. Hall · 512 U.S. 874 (1994)
- McDaniel v. Sanchez · 452 U.S. 130 (1981)
- Hathorn v. Lovorn · 457 U.S. 255 (1982)
- Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder · 557 U.S. 193 (2009)
- Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
- City of Rome v. United States · 446 U.S. 156 (1980)
- Lorance v. At&t Technologies, Inc. · 490 U.S. 900 (1989)
- Branch v. Smith · 538 U.S. 254 (2003)
- Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board · 528 U.S. 320 (2000)
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).