Francis et al. v. Southern Pacific Co.

Decided March 15, 1948. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 400 · 333 U.S. 445 (1948) · Cited 118 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 6–3.

“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.

• Northern Pacific R. Co. v. Adams · 192 U.S. 440 (1904)
• Railroad Co. v. Lockwood · 84 U.S. 357 (1873)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Thiel v. Southern Pacific Co. · 328 U.S. 217 (1946)
• Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. Solan · 169 U.S. 133 (1898)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Palmer v. Hoffman · 318 U.S. 109 (1943)
• Clearfield Trust Co. v. United States · 318 U.S. 363 (1943)
• Tiller v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad · 318 U.S. 54 (1943)
• Hecht v. Malley · 265 U.S. 144 (1924)
• Girouard v. United States · 328 U.S. 61 (1946)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Bunte Bros. · 312 U.S. 349 (1941)
• Black & White Taxicab & Transfer Co. v. Brown & Yellow Taxicab & Transfer Co. · 276 U.S. 518 (1928)
• Van Beeck v. Sabine Towing Co. · 300 U.S. 342 (1937)
• Huddleston v. Dwyer · 322 U.S. 232 (1944)
• Electric Storage Battery Co. v. Shimadzu · 307 U.S. 5 (1939)
• United States v. Ryan · 284 U.S. 167 (1931)
• The Steamboat New World v. King · 57 U.S. 469 (1854)
• Duncan v. Thompson · 315 U.S. 1 (1942)

Cited by

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

• Snyder v. Harris · 394 U.S. 332 (1969)
• Trammel v. United States · 445 U.S. 40 (1980)
• Barrett v. United States · 423 U.S. 212 (1976)
• Commissioner v. Estate of Church · 335 U.S. 632 (1949)
• Douglas v. Seacoast Products, Inc. · 431 U.S. 265 (1977)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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William Orville Douglas’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).