Jenness et al. v. Fortson, Secretary of State of Georgia

Decided June 21, 1971. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 5714 · 403 U.S. 431 (1971) · Cited 827 times

Holding

The challenge of appellants, prospective candidates and registered voters, to this election procedure was properly rejected as it does not abridge the rights of free speech and association secured by the First and Fourteenth Amendments and is not violative of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

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 9–0.

“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.

• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)

Cited by

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

• American Party of Texas v. White · 415 U.S. 767 (1974)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Munro v. Socialist Workers Party · 479 U.S. 189 (1986)
• New York State Bd. of Elections v. López Torres · 552 U.S. 196 (2008)
• Mandel v. Bradley · 432 U.S. 173 (1977)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Burdick v. Takushi · 504 U.S. 428 (1992)
• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• Clements v. Fashing · 457 U.S. 957 (1982)
• Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee · 489 U.S. 214 (1989)
• Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party · 520 U.S. 351 (1997)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party · 440 U.S. 173 (1979)
• Crawford v. Marion County Election Board · 553 U.S. 181 (2008)
• Renne v. Geary · 501 U.S. 312 (1991)
• Norman v. Reed · 502 U.S. 279 (1992)
• Lubin v. Panish · 415 U.S. 709 (1974)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• California Democratic Party v. Jones · 530 U.S. 567 (2000)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1971). 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).