Batterton v. Francis

432 U.S. 416 · Decided June 20, 1977 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Batterton v. Francis was decided on June 20, 1977 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Poverty law, statutory welfare benefits” in the Civil Rights area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Batterton, Secretary, Department of Human Resources of Maryland, et al. v. Francis et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1976-153, docket 1976-153-01.

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Other cases on “Poverty law, statutory welfare benefits”

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Cases on the same legal provision: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (Social Security Act)

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• Bowen v. Gilliard
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Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Bagamasbad
  429 U.S. 24Decided November 1, 19769–0Per curiam
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• Craig v. BorenAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  429 U.S. 190Decided December 20, 19767–2William J. Brennan Jr.
• International Union of Electrical v. Robbins & Myers, Inc.
  429 U.S. 229Decided December 20, 19769–0William H. Rehnquist
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp.
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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error