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Grisham v. Hagan

361 U.S. 278 · Decided January 18, 1960 · 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

Grisham v. Hagan was decided on January 18, 1960 by a vote of 7–2. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Tom C. Clark wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Military, active duty” in the Civil Rights area. SCDB records that the Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

Case details

Citations
361 U.S. 278 · 80 S. Ct. 310 · 4 L. Ed. 2d 279 · 1960 U.S. LEXIS 1743
Docket number
58
Decided
January 18, 1960
Argued
October 22, 1959
Court era
Warren Court
Decision type
Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
Disposition
Reversed
Outcome for petitioner
The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
Vote
7–2
Majority opinion
Tom C. Clark
Opinion assigned by
Earl Warren
How the case arrived
Certiorari
Issue area
Civil Rights
Legal provision
Uniform Code of Military Justice
Type of law
Federal statute
Held unconstitutional
An act of Congress
Decision direction (SCDB)
Liberal what this means

How the Justices voted

JusticeVoteSeparate writing
Justice Hugo L. BlackMajority
Justice Felix FrankfurterSpecial concurrence
Justice William O. DouglasMajority
Justice Tom C. ClarkMajorityWrote an opinion
Chief Justice Earl WarrenMajority
Justice John M. Harlan IISpecial concurrenceWrote an opinion
Justice William J. Brennan Jr.Majority
Justice Charles E. WhittakerDissentWrote an opinion
Justice Potter StewartDissent

Full case caption

Grisham v. Hagan, Warden

SCDB identifiers: case 1959-021, docket 1959-021-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: Uniform Code of Military Justice

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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