Elfbrandt v. Russell et al.

Decided April 18, 1966. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 656 · 384 U.S. 11 (1966) · Cited 272 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.

• Baggett v. Bullitt · 377 U.S. 360 (1964)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• Scales v. United States · 367 U.S. 203 (1961)
• Noto v. United States · 367 U.S. 290 (1961)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Cramp v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange Cty. · 368 U.S. 278 (1961)
• Adler v. Board of Ed. of City of New York · 342 U.S. 485 (1952)
• Garner v. Board of Public Works of Los Angeles · 341 U.S. 716 (1951)
• Gerende v. Board of Supervisors of Elections of Baltimore · 341 U.S. 56 (1951)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners of NM · 353 U.S. 232 (1957)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Slochower v. Board of Higher Ed. of New York City · 350 U.S. 551 (1956)
• Schneiderman v. United States · 320 U.S. 118 (1943)
• Communist Party of United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. · 367 U.S. 1 (1961)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee · 372 U.S. 539 (1963)
• Beilan v. Board of Public Ed., School Dist. of Philadelphia · 357 U.S. 399 (1958)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Gremillion v. National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People · 366 U.S. 293 (1961)

Cited by

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

• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Whitehill v. Elkins · 389 U.S. 54 (1967)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Law Students Civil Rights Research Council, Inc. v. Wadmond · 401 U.S. 154 (1971)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• United States v. Grace · 461 U.S. 171 (1983)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights · 418 U.S. 298 (1974)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Baird v. State Bar of Arizona · 401 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Socialist Labor Party v. Gilligan · 406 U.S. 583 (1972)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• Edwards v. Vannoy · 593 U.S. 255 (2021)

Official text

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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).