Boyle v. Landry
401 U.S. 77 · Decided February 23, 1971 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Boyle v. Landry was decided on February 23, 1971 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Hugo L. Black wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Comity, First Amendment” in the Judicial Power area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 401 U.S. 77 · 91 S. Ct. 758 · 27 L. Ed. 2d 696 · 1971 U.S. LEXIS 84
- Docket number
- 4
- Decided
- February 23, 1971
- Argued
- March 24, 1969
- Reargued
- April 29, 1969
- Court era
- Burger Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority opinion
- Hugo L. Black
- Opinion assigned by
- Warren E. Burger
- How the case arrived
- Appeal
- Issue (SCDB)
- Comity, First Amendment
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Legal provision
- Abstention doctrine
- Type of law
- Other
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice John M. Harlan II | Majority | |
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Special concurrence | |
| Justice Potter Stewart | Majority | |
| Justice Byron R. White | Special concurrence | |
| Justice Thurgood Marshall | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Warren E. Burger | Majority | |
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Majority |
Full case caption
Boyle, Judge, et al. v. Landry et al.
SCDB identifiers: case 1970-037, docket 1970-037-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Comity, First Amendment”
- Younger v. Harris
- Samuels v. Mackell
- W. E. B. Dubois Clubs of America v. Clark
- Zwickler v. Koota
- Allee v. Medrano
- Babbitt v. United Farm Workers National Union
Cases on the same legal provision: Abstention doctrine
- Perez v. Ledesma
- Dyson v. Stein
- Byrne v. Karalexis
- Askew v. Hargrave
- Reetz v. Bozanich
- American Trial Lawyers Assn. v. New Jersey Supreme Court
Same Term, same area (Judicial Power)
- United States v. City of Chicago
- Odom v. United States
- Fornaris v. Ridge Tool Co.
- Arnold Tours, Inc. v. Camp
- Port of Boston Marine Terminal Assn. v. Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic
- Bruno v. Pennsylvania
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