Foster v. California
Decided April 1, 1969. Abe Fortas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 47 · 394 U.S. 440 (1969) · Cited 1,048 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
- Abe Fortas · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Earl Warren
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
- William Orville Douglas
Dissenting · 4
- Byron Raymond White · filed a dissenting opinion
- Hugo Lafayette Black · filed a dissenting opinion
- John Marshall Harlan
- Potter Stewart
“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.
- United States v. Wade · 388 U.S. 218 (1967)
- Stovall v. Denno · 388 U.S. 293 (1967)
- Gilbert v. California · 388 U.S. 263 (1967)
- Spencer v. Texas · 385 U.S. 554 (1967)
- Chapman v. California · 386 U.S. 18 (1967)
- Simmons v. United States · 390 U.S. 377 (1968)
- Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
- Rochin v. California · 342 U.S. 165 (1952)
- Michelson v. United States · 335 U.S. 469 (1948)
- Chambers v. Florida · 309 U.S. 227 (1940)
- Malinski v. New York · 324 U.S. 401 (1945)
- United States v. Augenblick · 393 U.S. 348 (1969)
- Irvine v. California · 347 U.S. 128 (1954)
- Biggers v. Tennessee · 390 U.S. 404 (1968)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Manson v. Brathwaite · 432 U.S. 98 (1977)
- Kirby v. Illinois · 406 U.S. 682 (1972)
- Sexton v. Beaudreaux · 585 U.S. 961 (2018)
- Neil v. Biggers · 409 U.S. 188 (1972)
- Baker v. McCollan · 443 U.S. 137 (1979)
- United States v. Young · 470 U.S. 1 (1985)
- Barefoot v. Estelle · 463 U.S. 880 (1983)
- Colorado v. Connelly · 479 U.S. 157 (1986)
- United States v. Hasting · 461 U.S. 499 (1983)
- Coleman v. Alabama · 399 U.S. 1 (1970)
- Watkins v. Sowders · 449 U.S. 341 (1981)
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).