Louisiana Power & Light Co. v. City of Thibodaux

Decided June 8, 1959. Felix Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 398 · 360 U.S. 25 (1959) · Cited 647 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.

• Meredith v. Winter Haven · 320 U.S. 228 (1943)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• Burford v. Sun Oil Co. · 319 U.S. 315 (1943)
• Toomer v. Witsell · 334 U.S. 385 (1948)
• Leiter Minerals, Inc. v. United States · 352 U.S. 220 (1957)
• Public Util. Comm'n of Cal. v. United States · 355 U.S. 534 (1958)
• Madisonville Traction Company v. Saint Bernard Mining Company · 196 U.S. 239 (1905)
• City of Chicago v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. · 357 U.S. 77 (1958)
• Chicago v. Fieldcrest Dairies, Inc. · 316 U.S. 168 (1942)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Cohens v. Virginia · 19 U.S. 264 (1821)
• Kerotest Manufacturing Co. v. C-O-Two Fire Equipment Co. · 342 U.S. 180 (1952)
• Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. McLaughlin · 323 U.S. 101 (1944)
• Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. v. Huffman · 319 U.S. 293 (1943)
• Alabama Public Service Commission v. Southern Railway Co. · 341 U.S. 341 (1951)
• Alabama State Federation of Labor v. McAdory · 325 U.S. 450 (1945)
• Markham v. Allen · 326 U.S. 490 (1946)
• Propper v. Clark · 337 U.S. 472 (1949)
• Pennsylvania v. Williams · 294 U.S. 176 (1935)
• Commissioner v. Estate of Church · 335 U.S. 632 (1949)
• American Federation of Labor v. Watson · 327 U.S. 582 (1946)
• Hawks v. Hamill · 288 U.S. 52 (1933)
• City of Meridian v. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Co. · 358 U.S. 639 (1959)
• Long Island Water Supply Co. v. Brooklyn · 166 U.S. 685 (1897)
• Government & Civic Employees Organizing Committee v. Windsor · 353 U.S. 364 (1957)
• Estate of Spiegel v. Commissioner · 335 U.S. 701 (1949)
• Williams v. Green Bay & Western Railroad · 326 U.S. 549 (1946)
• Risty v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. · 270 U.S. 378 (1926)
• Forsyth v. Hammond · 166 U.S. 506 (1897)
• Stainback v. Mo Hock Ke Lok Po · 336 U.S. 368 (1949)

Cited by

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

• Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance · 517 U.S. 706 (1996)
• Zwickler v. Koota · 389 U.S. 241 (1967)
• England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners · 375 U.S. 411 (1964)
• Knick v. Township of Scott · 588 U.S. 180 (2019)
• Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
• City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd. · 526 U.S. 687 (1999)
• Clay v. Sun Ins. Office Ltd. · 363 U.S. 207 (1960)
• McGautha v. California · 402 U.S. 183 (1971)
• Lehman Brothers v. Schein · 416 U.S. 386 (1974)
• Griffin v. School Bd. of Prince Edward Cty. · 377 U.S. 218 (1964)
• Fair Assessment in Real Estate Assn., Inc. v. McNary · 454 U.S. 100 (1981)
• Garner v. Louisiana · 368 U.S. 157 (1961)
• Harris County Commissioners Court v. Moore · 420 U.S. 77 (1975)
• Hostetter v. Idlewild Bon Voyage Liquor Corp. · 377 U.S. 324 (1964)
• Zivotofsky Ex Rel. Zivotofsky v. Clinton · 566 U.S. 189 (2012)
• Kaiser Steel Corp. v. W. S. Ranch Co. · 391 U.S. 593 (1968)

Official text

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

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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).