System Federation No. 91, Railway Employes' Department, Afl-Cio, et al. v. Wright et al.
Decided January 16, 1961. John Marshall Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 48 · 364 U.S. 642 (1961) · Cited 568 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 5–3.
Majority · 5
- John Marshall Harlan · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Earl Warren
- Hugo Lafayette Black
- Tom C. Clark
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Dissenting · 3
- Charles Evans Whittaker
- Felix Frankfurter
- William Orville Douglas · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad · 323 U.S. 192 (1944)
- United States v. Swift & Co. · 286 U.S. 106 (1932)
- Railway Employes' Department v. Hanson · 351 U.S. 225 (1956)
- Graham v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen · 338 U.S. 232 (1949)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Local Number 93, International Ass'n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland · 478 U.S. 501 (1986)
- Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail · 502 U.S. 367 (1992)
- Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler · 427 U.S. 424 (1976)
- Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
- Horne v. Flores · 557 U.S. 433 (2009)
- Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts · 467 U.S. 561 (1984)
- Salazar v. Buono · 559 U.S. 700 (2010)
- Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
- Arizona v. California · 460 U.S. 605 (1983)
- Miller v. French · 530 U.S. 327 (2000)
- Evans v. Jeff D. Ex Rel. Johnson · 475 U.S. 717 (1986)
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).