Washington, Mayor of Washington, D. C., et al. v. Davis et al.

Decided June 7, 1976. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-1492 · 426 U.S. 229 (1976) · Cited 3,450 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 7–2.

“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.

• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Palmer v. Thompson · 403 U.S. 217 (1971)
• Udall v. Tallman · 380 U.S. 1 (1965)
• Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver · 413 U.S. 189 (1973)
• Wright v. Council of Emporia · 407 U.S. 451 (1972)
• WRIGHT Et Al. v. ROCKEFELLER, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK, Et Al. · 376 U.S. 52 (1964)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Alexander v. Louisiana · 405 U.S. 625 (1972)
• Jefferson v. Hackney · 406 U.S. 535 (1972)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Strauder v. West Virginia · 100 U.S. 303 (1880)
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot · 364 U.S. 339 (1960)
• Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance · 409 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Sibbach v. Wilson & Co. · 312 U.S. 1 (1941)
• Smith v. Texas · 311 U.S. 128 (1941)
• Whitus v. Georgia · 385 U.S. 545 (1967)
• Turner v. Fouche · 396 U.S. 346 (1970)
• Chandler v. Roudebush · 425 U.S. 840 (1976)
• Avery v. Georgia · 345 U.S. 559 (1953)
• Cassell v. Texas · 339 U.S. 282 (1950)
• Neal v. Delaware · 103 U.S. 370 (1881)
• United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America v. United States · 330 U.S. 395 (1947)
• Carter v. Jury Comm'n of Greene Cty. · 396 U.S. 320 (1970)
• Power Reactor Development Co. v. International Union of Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers · 367 U.S. 396 (1961)
• Akins v. Texas · 325 U.S. 398 (1945)
• Hill v. Texas · 316 U.S. 400 (1942)

Cited by

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

• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Columbus Board of Education v. Penick · 443 U.S. 449 (1979)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Rogers v. Lodge · 458 U.S. 613 (1982)
• Castaneda v. Partida · 430 U.S. 482 (1977)
• Lewis v. Casey · 518 U.S. 343 (1996)
• Batson v. Kentucky · 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust · 487 U.S. 977 (1988)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• General Electric Co. v. Gilbert · 429 U.S. 125 (1976)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett · 531 U.S. 356 (2001)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer · 440 U.S. 568 (1979)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman · 433 U.S. 406 (1977)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic · 506 U.S. 263 (1993)
• Washington v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 458 U.S. 457 (1982)
• Rucho v. Common Cause · 588 U.S. 684 (2019)
• Crawford v. Board of Ed. of Los Angeles · 458 U.S. 527 (1982)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Crawford-El v. Britton · 523 U.S. 574 (1998)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry · 548 U.S. 399 (2006)
• City of Memphis v. Greene · 451 U.S. 100 (1981)
• United States v. Fordice · 505 U.S. 717 (1992)

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).