Kusper et al. v. Pontikes

Decided November 19, 1973. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-1631 · 414 U.S. 51 (1973) · Cited 640 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.

• Rosario v. Rockefeller · 410 U.S. 752 (1973)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Zwickler v. Koota · 389 U.S. 241 (1967)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Harman v. Forssenius · 380 U.S. 528 (1965)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners · 375 U.S. 411 (1964)
• Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
• McDonald v. Board of Election Comm'rs of Chicago · 394 U.S. 802 (1969)
• Cipriano v. City of Houma · 395 U.S. 701 (1969)
• Lake Carriers' Assn. v. MacMullan · 406 U.S. 498 (1972)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• City of Phoenix v. Kolodziejski · 399 U.S. 204 (1970)
• Propper v. Clark · 337 U.S. 472 (1949)

Cited by

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

• New York State Bd. of Elections v. López Torres · 552 U.S. 196 (2008)
• Clingman v. Beaver · 544 U.S. 581 (2005)
• Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut · 479 U.S. 208 (1986)
• Democratic Party of United States v. Wisconsin Ex Rel. La Follette · 450 U.S. 107 (1981)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• California Democratic Party v. Jones · 530 U.S. 567 (2000)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Babbitt v. United Farm Workers National Union · 442 U.S. 289 (1979)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee · 489 U.S. 214 (1989)
• American Party of Texas v. White · 415 U.S. 767 (1974)
• Bellotti v. Baird · 428 U.S. 132 (1976)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Cousins v. Wigoda · 419 U.S. 477 (1975)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Jones v. North Carolina Prisoners' Labor Union, Inc. · 433 U.S. 119 (1977)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth · 428 U.S. 52 (1976)
• Knox v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 · 567 U.S. 298 (2012)
• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party · 440 U.S. 173 (1979)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Lefkowitz v. Cunningham · 431 U.S. 801 (1977)
• Nevada v. Hall · 440 U.S. 410 (1979)
• Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1 v. Hudson · 475 U.S. 292 (1986)
• Rogers v. Lodge · 458 U.S. 613 (1982)
• Harris County Commissioners Court v. Moore · 420 U.S. 77 (1975)

Official text

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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).