United States v. Board of Commissioners of Sheffield, Alabama, et al.

Decided March 6, 1978. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1662 · 435 U.S. 110 (1978) · Cited 222 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.

• Allen v. State Board of Elections · 393 U.S. 544 (1969)
• South Carolina v. Katzenbach · 383 U.S. 301 (1966)
• Perkins v. Matthews · 400 U.S. 379 (1971)
• Georgia v. United States · 411 U.S. 526 (1973)
• Don E. Williams Co. v. Commissioner · 429 U.S. 569 (1977)
• United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh, Inc. v. Carey · 430 U.S. 144 (1977)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc. · 401 U.S. 321 (1971)
• Brown Shoe Co. v. United States · 370 U.S. 294 (1962)
• Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance · 409 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Terry v. Adams · 345 U.S. 461 (1953)
• Arizona v. California · 373 U.S. 546 (1963)
• Hunter v. Erickson · 393 U.S. 385 (1969)
• Beer v. United States · 425 U.S. 130 (1976)
• Girouard v. United States · 328 U.S. 61 (1946)
• Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty · 434 U.S. 136 (1977)
• City of Richmond v. United States · 422 U.S. 358 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Dougherty County Bd. of Ed. v. White · 439 U.S. 32 (1978)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• City of Rome v. United States · 446 U.S. 156 (1980)
• Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder · 557 U.S. 193 (2009)
• Holder v. Hall · 512 U.S. 874 (1994)
• Presley v. Etowah County Commission · 502 U.S. 491 (1992)
• McDaniel v. Sanchez · 452 U.S. 130 (1981)
• Mohasco Corp. v. Silver · 447 U.S. 807 (1980)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Hathorn v. Lovorn · 457 U.S. 255 (1982)
• Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board · 528 U.S. 320 (2000)
• Clark v. Roemer · 500 U.S. 646 (1991)

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).