Williams et al. v. Rhodes, Governor of Ohio, et al.

Decided October 15, 1968. Hugo Lafayette Black delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 543 · 393 U.S. 23 (1968) · Cited 1,576 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.

• McPherson v. Blacker · 146 U.S. 1 (1892)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Baker v. Carr · 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections · 383 U.S. 663 (1966)
• Zwickler v. Koota · 389 U.S. 241 (1967)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County · 391 U.S. 430 (1968)
• Wesberry v. Sanders · 376 U.S. 1 (1964)
• De Jonge v. Oregon · 299 U.S. 353 (1937)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Konigsberg v. State Bar of Cal. · 366 U.S. 36 (1961)
• WMCA, Inc. v. Lomenzo · 377 U.S. 633 (1964)
• MacDougall v. Green · 335 U.S. 281 (1948)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Thornhill v. Alabama · 310 U.S. 88 (1940)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. · 365 U.S. 127 (1961)
• United States v. Harriss · 347 U.S. 612 (1954)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 349 U.S. 294 (1955)

Cited by

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

• Jenness v. Fortson · 403 U.S. 431 (1971)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party · 520 U.S. 351 (1997)
• Munro v. Socialist Workers Party · 479 U.S. 189 (1986)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party · 440 U.S. 173 (1979)
• Clements v. Fashing · 457 U.S. 957 (1982)
• Kusper v. Pontikes · 414 U.S. 51 (1973)
• Socialist Labor Party v. Gilligan · 406 U.S. 583 (1972)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• American Party of Texas v. White · 415 U.S. 767 (1974)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• Moore v. Ogilvie · 394 U.S. 814 (1969)
• New York State Bd. of Elections v. López Torres · 552 U.S. 196 (2008)
• Chiafalo v. Washington · 591 U.S. 578 (2020)
• Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia · 427 U.S. 307 (1976)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
• Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee · 489 U.S. 214 (1989)
• Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights · 418 U.S. 298 (1974)
• Norman v. Reed · 502 U.S. 279 (1992)
• Lubin v. Panish · 415 U.S. 709 (1974)
• Saenz v. Roe · 526 U.S. 489 (1999)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Hugo Lafayette Black’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).