Mayer v. City of Chicago
Decided December 13, 1971. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 70-5040 · 404 U.S. 189 (1971) · Cited 487 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 7–0.
Majority · 5
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Potter Stewart
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Orville Douglas
Concurring · 2
- Harry Andrew Blackmun · filed a concurring opinion
- Warren Earl Burger · filed a concurring opinion
“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.
- Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
- Draper v. Washington · 372 U.S. 487 (1963)
- Gardner v. California · 393 U.S. 367 (1969)
- Williams v. Oklahoma City · 395 U.S. 458 (1969)
- Coppedge v. United States · 369 U.S. 438 (1962)
- Rinaldi v. Yeager · 384 U.S. 305 (1966)
- Eskridge v. Washington State Board of Prison Terms & Paroles · 357 U.S. 214 (1958)
- Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
- Lane v. Brown · 372 U.S. 477 (1963)
- Roberts v. LaVallee · 389 U.S. 40 (1967)
- Burns v. Ohio · 360 U.S. 252 (1959)
- Groppi v. Wisconsin · 400 U.S. 505 (1971)
- Long v. District Court of Iowa, Lee Cty. · 385 U.S. 192 (1966)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. MacCollom · 426 U.S. 317 (1976)
- San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
- Bounds v. Smith · 430 U.S. 817 (1977)
- Christopher v. Harbury · 536 U.S. 403 (2002)
- Bearden v. Georgia · 461 U.S. 660 (1983)
- Scott v. Illinois · 440 U.S. 367 (1979)
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).