National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Flowers, Attorney General

Decided June 1, 1964. John Marshall Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 169 · 377 U.S. 288 (1964) · Cited 361 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 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.

• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Kunz v. New York · 340 U.S. 290 (1951)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Lovell v. City of Griffin · 303 U.S. 444 (1938)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Staub v. City of Baxley · 355 U.S. 313 (1958)
• Takahashi v. Fish & Game Commission · 334 U.S. 410 (1948)
• Saia v. New York · 334 U.S. 558 (1948)
• Oyama v. California · 332 U.S. 633 (1948)
• New York Ex Rel. Bryant v. Zimmerman · 278 U.S. 63 (1928)
• Davis v. Wechsler · 263 U.S. 22 (1923)
• Louisiana Ex Rel. Gremillion v. National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People · 366 U.S. 293 (1961)

Cited by

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

• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• Wainwright v. Sykes · 433 U.S. 72 (1977)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Branzburg v. Hayes · 408 U.S. 665 (1972)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Zwickler v. Koota · 389 U.S. 241 (1967)
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton · 413 U.S. 49 (1973)
• Lindsey v. Normet · 405 U.S. 56 (1972)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Ford v. Georgia · 498 U.S. 411 (1991)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Orr v. Orr · 440 U.S. 268 (1979)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Beard v. Kindler · 558 U.S. 53 (2009)
• Cameron v. Johnson · 390 U.S. 611 (1968)
• James v. Kentucky · 466 U.S. 341 (1984)
• Barr v. City of Columbia · 378 U.S. 146 (1964)

Official text

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

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John Marshall Harlan’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).