Butler v. Whiteman
356 U.S. 271 · Decided April 14, 1958 · 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
Butler v. Whiteman was decided on April 14, 1958 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. The decision was issued per curiam (an unsigned opinion of the Court). SCDB classifies its main issue as “Sufficiency of evidence in injury or death compensation” in the Economic Activity area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 356 U.S. 271 · 78 S. Ct. 734 · 2 L. Ed. 2d 754 · 1958 U.S. LEXIS 1769
- Docket number
- 200 M
- Decided
- April 14, 1958
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Per curiam (no oral argument)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 6–3
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Legal provision
- Jones Act or Death on the High Seas Act
- Type of law
- Federal statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Jurisdictional dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Majority | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Justice Tom C. Clark | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority | |
| Justice John M. Harlan II | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Charles E. Whittaker | Dissent |
Full case caption
Butler et al. v. Whiteman
SCDB identifiers: case 1957-080, docket 1957-080-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Sufficiency of evidence in injury or death compensation”
- Grimes v. Raymond Concrete Pile Co.
- Ferguson v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co.
- Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.
- Weyerhaeuser Steamship Co. v. Nacirema Operating Co., Inc.
- Honeycutt v. Wabash Railway Co.
- Stinson v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co.
Cases on the same legal provision: Jones Act or Death on the High Seas Act
- Kernan v. American Dredging Co.
- McAllister v. Magnolia Petroleum Co.
- Romero v. International Terminal Operating Co.
- Braen v. Pfeifer Oil Transportation Co., Inc.
- Cox v. Roth
- Lauritzen v. Larsen
Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)
- Gibson v. Thompson
- Palermo v. Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc.
- Black v. Magnolia Liquor Co., Inc.
- Stinson v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co.
- Schaffer Transportation Co. v. United States
- American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. United States
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