Georgia v. Thomas McCollum, William Joseph McCollum and Ella Hampton McCollum

Decided June 18, 1992. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-372 · 505 U.S. 42 (1992) · Cited 1,235 times

Holding

The Constitution prohibits a criminal defendant from engaging in purposeful discrimination on the ground of race in the exercise of peremptory challenges.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“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.

• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Powers v. Ohio · 499 U.S. 400 (1991)
• Strauder v. West Virginia · 100 U.S. 303 (1880)
• Swain v. Alabama · 380 U.S. 202 (1965)
• Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co. · 457 U.S. 922 (1982)
• Hayes v. Missouri · 120 U.S. 68 (1887)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• Nix v. Whiteside · 475 U.S. 157 (1986)
• United States v. Zolin · 491 U.S. 554 (1989)
• Lewis v. United States · 146 U.S. 370 (1892)
• Brady v. Maryland · 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
• West v. Atkins · 487 U.S. 42 (1988)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Berger v. United States · 295 U.S. 78 (1935)
• Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co. · 419 U.S. 345 (1974)
• Flagg Bros., Inc. v. Brooks · 436 U.S. 149 (1978)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• Rendell-Baker v. Kohn · 457 U.S. 830 (1982)
• Morgan v. Illinois · 504 U.S. 719 (1992)
• Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis · 407 U.S. 163 (1972)
• Rosales-Lopez v. United States · 451 U.S. 182 (1981)
• Norris v. Alabama · 294 U.S. 587 (1935)
• Ristaino v. Ross · 424 U.S. 589 (1976)
• Terry v. Adams · 345 U.S. 461 (1953)
• Ham v. South Carolina · 409 U.S. 524 (1973)
• National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Tarkanian · 488 U.S. 179 (1988)
• United States v. Wood · 299 U.S. 123 (1936)

Cited by

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

• JEB v. Alabama Ex Rel. TB · 511 U.S. 127 (1994)
• Flowers v. Mississippi · 588 U.S. 284 (2019)
• Miller-El v. Dretke · 545 U.S. 231 (2005)
• Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
• Rivera v. Illinois · 556 U.S. 148 (2009)
• Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado · 580 U.S. 206 (2017)
• Haaland v. Brackeen · 599 U.S. 255 (2023)
• United States v. Martinez-Salazar · 528 U.S. 304 (2000)
• Campbell v. Louisiana · 523 U.S. 392 (1998)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Harry Andrew Blackmun’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1992). 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).