Wells v. Rockefeller, Governor of New York, et al.
Decided April 7, 1969. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 238 · 394 U.S. 542 (1969) · Cited 185 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.
Majority · 5
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Earl Warren
- Hugo Lafayette Black
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Orville Douglas
Concurring · 1
- Abe Fortas · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 3
- Byron Raymond White · filed a dissenting opinion
- John Marshall Harlan · filed a dissenting opinion
- Potter Stewart
“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.
- Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
- Wesberry v. Sanders · 376 U.S. 1 (1964)
- Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
- Avery v. Midland County · 390 U.S. 474 (1968)
- Davis v. Department of Labor and Industries of Wash. · 317 U.S. 249 (1942)
- Swann v. Adams · 385 U.S. 440 (1967)
- Kilgarlin v. Hill · 386 U.S. 120 (1967)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- White v. Weiser · 412 U.S. 783 (1973)
- Mahan v. Howell · 410 U.S. 315 (1973)
- Karcher v. Daggett · 462 U.S. 725 (1983)
- Whitcomb v. Chavis · 403 U.S. 124 (1971)
- Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
- Chapman v. Meier · 420 U.S. 1 (1975)
- White v. Regester · 412 U.S. 755 (1973)
- Gaffney v. Cummings · 412 U.S. 735 (1973)
- Hadley v. Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City · 397 U.S. 50 (1970)
- Davis v. Bandemer · 478 U.S. 109 (1986)
- Connor v. Finch · 431 U.S. 407 (1977)
- Abate v. Mundt · 403 U.S. 182 (1971)
- Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
- Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
- Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
- Exxon Co., USA v. Sofec, Inc. · 517 U.S. 830 (1996)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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William Joseph Brennan Jr.’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).