Washington et al. v. Seattle School District No. 1 et al.

Decided June 30, 1982. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-9 · 458 U.S. 457 (1982) · Cited 301 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.

• Hunter v. Erickson · 393 U.S. 385 (1969)
• Milliken v. Bradley · 418 U.S. 717 (1974)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Columbus Board of Education v. Penick · 443 U.S. 449 (1979)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• James v. Valtierra · 402 U.S. 137 (1971)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 433 U.S. 406 (1977)
• Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa · 439 U.S. 60 (1978)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman · 455 U.S. 363 (1982)
• Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood · 441 U.S. 91 (1979)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego · 453 U.S. 490 (1981)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• White v. Regester · 412 U.S. 755 (1973)
• United States v. Kagama · 118 U.S. 375 (1886)
• Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver · 413 U.S. 189 (1973)
• Zobel v. Williams · 457 U.S. 55 (1982)
• Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler · 427 U.S. 424 (1976)
• Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder · 455 U.S. 40 (1982)
• Sailors v. Board of Ed. of Kent Cty. · 387 U.S. 105 (1967)
• Hughes v. Superior Court of Cal. for Contra Costa Cty. · 339 U.S. 460 (1950)
• Nixon v. Herndon · 273 U.S. 536 (1927)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 443 U.S. 526 (1979)
• North Carolina State Board of Education v. Swann · 402 U.S. 43 (1971)

Cited by

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

• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 551 U.S. 701 (2007)
• Romer v. Evans · 517 U.S. 620 (1996)
• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• Johnson v. California · 543 U.S. 499 (2005)
• United States v. Paradise · 480 U.S. 149 (1987)
• City of Cuyahoga Falls v. Buckeye Community Hope Foundation · 538 U.S. 188 (2003)

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).