Dunn v. Blumstein

405 U.S. 330 · Decided March 21, 1972 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Dunn v. Blumstein was decided on March 21, 1972 by a vote of 6–1. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Residency requirements” in the Civil Rights area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: Lewis F. Powell Jr., William H. Rehnquist.

Full case caption

Dunn, Governor of Tennessee, et al. v. Blumstein

SCDB identifiers: case 1971-075, docket 1971-075-01.

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Other cases on “Residency requirements”

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)

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  404 U.S. 549Decided January 24, 19729–0Per curiam
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Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Engelman v. Amos
  404 U.S. 23Decided November 9, 19717–0Per curiam
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  404 U.S. 28Decided November 9, 19717–0Per curiam
• Schreiner v. United States
  404 U.S. 67Decided November 16, 19717–0Per curiam
• Reed v. ReedLaw held unconstitutional
  404 U.S. 71Decided November 22, 19717–0Warren E. Burger
• Richardson v. Belcher
  404 U.S. 78Decided November 22, 19714–3Potter Stewart
• Mayer v. City of Chicago
  404 U.S. 189Decided December 13, 19717–0William J. Brennan Jr.

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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