Mayer v. City of Chicago

404 U.S. 189 · Decided December 13, 1971 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Mayer v. City of Chicago was decided on December 13, 1971 unanimously (7–0). The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Indigents, transcripts” in the Civil Rights area.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Mayer v. City of Chicago

SCDB identifiers: case 1971-020, docket 1971-020-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Indigents, transcripts”

• Britt v. North Carolina
  404 U.S. 226Decided December 13, 19715–2Thurgood Marshall
• Wade v. Wilson
  396 U.S. 282Decided January 13, 19707–1William J. Brennan Jr.
• Williams v. Oklahoma City
  395 U.S. 458Decided June 9, 19698–0Per curiam
• Gardner v. California
  393 U.S. 367Decided January 20, 19697–2William O. Douglas
• Roberts v. Lavallee
  389 U.S. 40Decided October 23, 19678–1Per curiam
• United States v. Maccollom
  426 U.S. 317Decided June 10, 19765–4William H. Rehnquist

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

• Schilb v. Kuebel
  404 U.S. 357Decided December 20, 19714–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Reed v. ReedLaw held unconstitutional
  404 U.S. 71Decided November 22, 19717–0Warren E. Burger
• Connor v. Williams
  404 U.S. 549Decided January 24, 19729–0Per curiam
• Bullock v. CarterLaw held unconstitutional
  405 U.S. 134Decided February 24, 19727–0Warren E. Burger
• Dunn v. BlumsteinAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  405 U.S. 330Decided March 21, 19726–1Thurgood Marshall
• Eisenstadt v. BairdLaw held unconstitutional
  405 U.S. 438Decided March 22, 19726–1William J. Brennan Jr.

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Engelman v. Amos
  404 U.S. 23Decided November 9, 19717–0Per curiam
• Doherty v. United States
  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
• Britt v. North Carolina
  404 U.S. 226Decided December 13, 19715–2Thurgood Marshall

See all

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