Walker et al. v. City of Birmingham

Decided June 12, 1967. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 249 · 388 U.S. 307 (1967) · Cited 621 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.

• United States v. United Mine Workers of America · 330 U.S. 258 (1947)
• In Re Green · 369 U.S. 689 (1962)
• Cox v. New Hampshire · 312 U.S. 569 (1941)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Staub v. City of Baxley · 355 U.S. 313 (1958)
• Poulos v. New Hampshire · 345 U.S. 395 (1953)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Lovell v. City of Griffin · 303 U.S. 444 (1938)
• Edwards v. South Carolina · 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Freedman v. Maryland · 380 U.S. 51 (1965)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• Kunz v. New York · 340 U.S. 290 (1951)
• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 382 U.S. 87 (1965)
• Jones v. Opelika · 316 U.S. 584 (1942)
• Jones v. Opelika · 319 U.S. 103 (1943)
• Dombrowski v. Pfister · 380 U.S. 479 (1965)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Baggett v. Bullitt · 377 U.S. 360 (1964)
• Kovacs v. Cooper · 336 U.S. 77 (1949)

Cited by

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

• Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham · 394 U.S. 147 (1969)
• Martin v. Wilks · 490 U.S. 755 (1989)
• Vance v. Universal Amusement Co. · 445 U.S. 308 (1980)
• GTE Sylvania, Inc. v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. · 445 U.S. 375 (1980)
• W. R. Grace & Co. v. Local Union 759, International Union of the United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum & Plastic Workers · 461 U.S. 757 (1983)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Carroll v. President & Commissioners of Princess Anne · 393 U.S. 175 (1968)
• Celotex Corp. v. Edwards · 514 U.S. 300 (1995)
• Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• United States v. Ryan · 402 U.S. 530 (1971)
• Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts · 467 U.S. 561 (1984)
• Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler · 427 U.S. 424 (1976)
• Frank v. United States · 395 U.S. 147 (1969)

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).