Johnson v. Avery, Commissioner of Correction, et al.

Decided February 24, 1969. Abe Fortas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 40 · 393 U.S. 483 (1969) · Cited 1,359 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 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.

• Ex Parte Hull · 312 U.S. 546 (1941)
• Lee v. Washington · 390 U.S. 333 (1968)
• Fay v. Noia · 372 U.S. 391 (1963)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• United States v. Neustadt · 366 U.S. 696 (1961)
• Bowen v. Johnston · 306 U.S. 19 (1939)
• Smith v. Bennett · 365 U.S. 708 (1961)
• Sperry v. Florida Ex Rel. Florida Bar · 373 U.S. 379 (1963)
• White v. Ragen · 324 U.S. 760 (1945)
• Long v. District Court of Iowa, Lee Cty. · 385 U.S. 192 (1966)
• Cochran v. Kansas · 316 U.S. 255 (1942)

Cited by

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

• Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Wolff v. McDonnell · 418 U.S. 539 (1974)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• WILWORDING Et Al. v. SWENSON, WARDEN · 404 U.S. 249 (1971)
• Williams v. Pennsylvania · 579 U.S. 1 (2016)
• Pennsylvania v. Finley · 481 U.S. 551 (1987)
• Meachum v. Fano · 427 U.S. 215 (1976)
• Cruz v. Beto · 405 U.S. 319 (1972)
• Chaffin v. Stynchcombe · 412 U.S. 17 (1973)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• Turner v. Safley · 482 U.S. 78 (1987)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited · 404 U.S. 508 (1972)
• Colten v. Kentucky · 407 U.S. 104 (1972)
• McGautha v. California · 402 U.S. 183 (1971)
• Cleavinger v. Saxner · 474 U.S. 193 (1985)
• Overton v. Bazzetta · 539 U.S. 126 (2003)
• District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne · 557 U.S. 52 (2009)
• Shaw v. Murphy · 532 U.S. 223 (2001)
• Murray v. Giarratano · 492 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri · 564 U.S. 379 (2011)
• Rodriquez v. United States · 395 U.S. 327 (1969)
• Younger v. Gilmore · 404 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Boyd v. Dutton · 405 U.S. 1 (1972)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Abe Fortas’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).