Swann et al. v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education et al.

Decided April 20, 1971. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 281 · 402 U.S. 1 (1971) · Cited 2,178 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.

• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County · 391 U.S. 430 (1968)
• United States v. Montgomery County Board of Education · 395 U.S. 225 (1969)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education · 396 U.S. 19 (1969)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 349 U.S. 294 (1955)
• Hecht Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 321 (1944)
• Griffin v. School Bd. of Prince Edward Cty. · 377 U.S. 218 (1964)
• Monroe v. Board of Commissioners of Jackson · 391 U.S. 450 (1968)
• Raney v. Board of Education of Gould School District · 391 U.S. 443 (1968)

Cited by

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

• Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver · 413 U.S. 189 (1973)
• Columbus Board of Education v. Penick · 443 U.S. 449 (1979)
• Freeman v. Pitts · 503 U.S. 467 (1992)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 418 U.S. 717 (1974)
• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 551 U.S. 701 (2007)
• Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler · 427 U.S. 424 (1976)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 515 U.S. 70 (1995)
• Board of Ed. of Oklahoma City Public Schools v. Dowell · 498 U.S. 237 (1991)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 433 U.S. 267 (1977)
• Wright v. Council of Emporia · 407 U.S. 451 (1972)
• United States v. Paradise · 480 U.S. 149 (1987)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 443 U.S. 526 (1979)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 433 U.S. 406 (1977)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Rizzo v. Goode · 423 U.S. 362 (1976)
• DeFunis v. Odegaard · 416 U.S. 312 (1974)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Washington v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 458 U.S. 457 (1982)
• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• Hills v. Gautreaux · 425 U.S. 284 (1976)
• United States v. Fordice · 505 U.S. 717 (1992)
• Crawford v. Board of Ed. of Los Angeles · 458 U.S. 527 (1982)
• North Carolina v. Convington · 581 U.S. 486 (2017)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Bradley v. School Bd. of Richmond · 416 U.S. 696 (1974)
• Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail · 502 U.S. 367 (1992)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• Bazemore v. Friday · 478 U.S. 385 (1986)

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).