Kotch v. Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans
330 U.S. 552 · Decided March 31, 1947 · Supreme Court of the United States
At a glance
Kotch v. Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans was decided on March 31, 1947 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Hugo L. Black wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Employment discrimination (race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, working conditions)” in the Civil Rights area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 330 U.S. 552 · 67 S. Ct. 910 · 91 L. Ed. 1093 · 1947 U.S. LEXIS 2870
- Docket number
- 291
- Decided
- March 31, 1947
- Argued
- February 5, 1947
- Court era
- Vinson Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- Hugo L. Black
- Opinion assigned by
- Fred M. Vinson
- How the case arrived
- Appeal
- Issue (SCDB)
- Employment discrimination (race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, working conditions)
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Legal provision
- Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Dissent | |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Majority | |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Dissent | |
| Justice Frank Murphy | Dissent | |
| Justice Robert H. Jackson | Majority | |
| Justice Wiley B. Rutledge | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson | Majority |
Full case caption
Kotch et al. v. Board of River Port Pilot Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans et al.
SCDB identifiers: case 1946-072, docket 1946-072-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Employment discrimination (race, age, religion, illegitimacy, national origin, working conditions)”
- Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Howard
- Ramspeck v. Federal Trial Examiners Conference
- Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
- Love v. Pullman Co.
- McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
- Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co.
Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)
- Independent Warehouses, Inc. v. Scheele
- Louisiana ex Rel. Francis v. Resweber
- Fay v. New York
- Patton v. Mississippi
- Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of OklahomaLaw held unconstitutional
- Oyama v. CaliforniaLaw held unconstitutional
Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)
- United States v. Alcea Band of Tillamooks
- Ballard v. United States
- Confederated Bands of Ute Indians v. United States
- Trailmobile Company v. Whirls
- Clark v. Allen
- United States v. Bayer
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