Palmer et al. v. Thompson, Mayor of the City of Jackson, et al.

Decided June 14, 1971. Hugo Lafayette Black delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 107 · 403 U.S. 217 (1971) · Cited 363 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 5–4.

“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. School Bd. of Prince Edward Cty. · 377 U.S. 218 (1964)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Watson v. City of Memphis · 373 U.S. 526 (1963)
• Reitman v. Mulkey · 387 U.S. 369 (1967)
• Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority · 365 U.S. 715 (1961)
• Cooper v. Aaron · 358 U.S. 1 (1958)
• Hunter v. Erickson · 393 U.S. 385 (1969)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot · 364 U.S. 339 (1960)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 349 U.S. 294 (1955)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• United States v. Guest · 383 U.S. 745 (1966)
• Buchanan v. Warley · 245 U.S. 60 (1916)
• Mayor of Baltimore City v. Dawson · 350 U.S. 877 (1955)
• ANDERSON Et Al. v. MARTIN · 375 U.S. 399 (1964)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• United States v. Jackson · 390 U.S. 570 (1968)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Sweatt v. Painter · 339 U.S. 629 (1950)
• Evans v. Abney · 396 U.S. 435 (1970)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)

Cited by

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

• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• City of Memphis v. Greene · 451 U.S. 100 (1981)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Hunter v. Underwood · 471 U.S. 222 (1985)
• Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver · 413 U.S. 189 (1973)
• Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County · 450 U.S. 464 (1981)
• Wright v. Council of Emporia · 407 U.S. 451 (1972)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• McGinnis v. Royster · 410 U.S. 263 (1973)
• Palmore v. Sidoti · 466 U.S. 429 (1984)
• Spallone v. United States · 493 U.S. 265 (1990)
• Beer v. United States · 425 U.S. 130 (1976)
• Crawford v. Board of Ed. of Los Angeles · 458 U.S. 527 (1982)

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).