O'Shea, Magistrate, Circuit Court of Alexander County, Illinois, et al. v. Littleton et al.

Decided January 15, 1974. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-953 · 414 U.S. 488 (1974) · Cited 3,578 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.

• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Samuel Bailey v. Joe T. Patterson · 369 U.S. 31 (1962)
• Golden v. Zwickler · 394 U.S. 103 (1969)
• Mitchum v. Foster · 407 U.S. 225 (1972)
• Stefanelli v. Minard · 342 U.S. 117 (1951)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Jenkins v. McKeithen · 395 U.S. 411 (1969)
• Linda R. S. v. Richard D. · 410 U.S. 614 (1973)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• City of Greenwood v. Peacock · 384 U.S. 808 (1966)
• Boyle v. Landry · 401 U.S. 77 (1971)
• International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union, Local 37 v. Boyd · 347 U.S. 222 (1954)
• Preiser v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 475 (1973)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Maryland Casualty Co. v. Pacific Coal & Oil Co. · 312 U.S. 270 (1941)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
• Bradley v. Fisher · 80 U.S. 335 (1872)
• United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP) · 412 U.S. 669 (1973)
• Massachusetts v. Mellon · 262 U.S. 447 (1923)
• Doe v. Bolton · 410 U.S. 179 (1973)
• United States v. Price · 383 U.S. 787 (1966)
• Perez v. Ledesma · 401 U.S. 82 (1971)
• Kline v. Burke Construction Co. · 260 U.S. 226 (1922)
• Douglas v. City of Jeannette · 319 U.S. 157 (1943)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance · 409 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Gravel v. United States · 408 U.S. 606 (1972)

Cited by

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

• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• Allee v. Medrano · 416 U.S. 802 (1974)
• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• United States v. Sanchez-Gomez · 584 U.S. 381 (2018)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Ellis v. Dyson · 421 U.S. 426 (1975)
• Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas · 495 U.S. 149 (1990)
• Sosna v. Iowa · 419 U.S. 393 (1975)
• Vitek v. Jones · 445 U.S. 480 (1980)
• Juidice v. Vail · 430 U.S. 327 (1977)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty · 445 U.S. 388 (1980)
• Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War · 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
• Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. · 446 U.S. 719 (1980)
• Pulliam v. Allen · 466 U.S. 522 (1984)
• Renne v. Geary · 501 U.S. 312 (1991)
• Spencer v. Kemna · 523 U.S. 1 (1998)
• Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 504 U.S. 374 (1992)
• Dennis v. Sparks · 449 U.S. 24 (1980)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 555 U.S. 7 (2008)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. · 454 U.S. 464 (1982)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)

Official text

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

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Byron Raymond White’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).