Shapiro, Commissioner of Welfare of Connecticut v. Thompson

Decided April 21, 1969. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 9 · 394 U.S. 618 (1969) · Cited 3,119 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.

• Edwards v. California · 314 U.S. 160 (1941)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• United States v. Guest · 383 U.S. 745 (1966)
• Crandall v. Nevada · 73 U.S. 35 (1868)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Twining v. New Jersey · 211 U.S. 78 (1908)
• Kent v. Dulles · 357 U.S. 116 (1958)
• Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co. · 220 U.S. 61 (1911)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Prudential Insurance v. Benjamin · 328 U.S. 408 (1946)
• Schneider v. Rusk · 377 U.S. 163 (1964)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Korematsu v. United States · 323 U.S. 214 (1945)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Helvering v. Davis · 301 U.S. 619 (1937)
• Duncan v. Louisiana · 391 U.S. 145 (1968)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · 348 U.S. 483 (1955)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)

Cited by

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

• Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County · 415 U.S. 250 (1974)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Attorney General of New York v. Soto-Lopez · 476 U.S. 898 (1986)
• Saenz v. Roe · 526 U.S. 489 (1999)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Zobel v. Williams · 457 U.S. 55 (1982)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• Sosna v. Iowa · 419 U.S. 393 (1975)
• Martinez Ex Rel. Morales v. Bynum · 461 U.S. 321 (1983)
• Evansville-Vanderburgh Airport Authority District v. Delta Airlines, Inc. · 405 U.S. 707 (1972)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• Mathews v. Diaz · 426 U.S. 67 (1976)
• Maher v. Roe · 432 U.S. 464 (1977)
• United States v. Vuitch · 402 U.S. 62 (1971)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Vlandis v. Kline · 412 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Jones v. Helms · 452 U.S. 412 (1981)
• Edelman v. Jordan · 415 U.S. 651 (1974)
• United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno · 413 U.S. 528 (1973)
• Hooper v. Bernalillo County Assessor · 472 U.S. 612 (1985)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Goldberg v. Kelly · 397 U.S. 254 (1970)
• Roe v. Wade · 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Williams v. Illinois · 399 U.S. 235 (1970)
• Lindsey v. Normet · 405 U.S. 56 (1972)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• Nevada v. Hall · 440 U.S. 410 (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).