Foster et al. v. Illinois
Decided June 23, 1947. Felix Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 540 · 332 U.S. 134 (1947) · Cited 159 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 · 5
- Felix Frankfurter · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Frederick Moore Vinson
- Harold Hitz Burton
- Robert Houghwout Jackson
- Stanley Forman Reed
Dissenting · 4
- Frank Murphy
- Hugo Lafayette Black · filed a dissenting opinion
- Wiley Blount Rutledge · filed a dissenting opinion
- William Orville Douglas
“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.
- Powell v. Alabama · 287 U.S. 45 (1932)
- Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
- Betts v. Brady · 316 U.S. 455 (1942)
- Williams v. Kaiser · 323 U.S. 471 (1945)
- Tomkins v. Missouri · 323 U.S. 485 (1945)
- De Meerleer v. Michigan · 329 U.S. 663 (1947)
- Johnson v. Zerbst · 304 U.S. 458 (1938)
- Mooney v. Holohan · 294 U.S. 103 (1935)
- Smith v. O'GRADY · 312 U.S. 329 (1941)
- Rice v. Olson · 324 U.S. 786 (1945)
- Hebert v. Louisiana · 272 U.S. 312 (1926)
- White v. Ragen · 324 U.S. 760 (1945)
- House v. Mayo · 324 U.S. 42 (1945)
- Carter v. Illinois · 329 U.S. 173 (1946)
- Jackman v. Rosenbaum Co. · 260 U.S. 22 (1922)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Bute v. Illinois · 333 U.S. 640 (1948)
- Marino v. Ragen · 332 U.S. 561 (1947)
- Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
- Carnley v. Cochran · 369 U.S. 506 (1962)
- Von Moltke v. Gillies · 332 U.S. 708 (1948)
- Shapiro v. United States · 335 U.S. 1 (1948)
- Moore v. Michigan · 355 U.S. 155 (1957)
- Gallegos v. Nebraska · 342 U.S. 55 (1951)
- Case v. Nebraska · 381 U.S. 336 (1965)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Felix Frankfurter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
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).