Pickett v. Brown

462 U.S. 1 · Decided June 6, 1983 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Pickett v. Brown was decided on June 6, 1983 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed 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 “Rights of illegitimates” in the Civil Rights area. 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

Full case caption

Pickett et al. v. Brown et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1982-094, docket 1982-094-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Rights of illegitimates”

• Mills v. HabluetzelLaw held unconstitutional
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• United States v. Clark
  445 U.S. 23Decided February 26, 19807–2Thurgood Marshall
• Califano v. Boles
  443 U.S. 282Decided June 27, 19795–4William H. Rehnquist
• Lalli v. Lalli
  439 U.S. 259Decided December 11, 19785–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)

• Exxon Corp. v. Eagerton
  462 U.S. 176Decided June 8, 19839–0Thurgood Marshall
• Bearden v. Georgia
  461 U.S. 660Decided May 24, 19839–0Sandra Day O'Connor
• Brown v. Thomson
  462 U.S. 835Decided June 22, 19835–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Lehr v. Robertson
  463 U.S. 248Decided June 27, 19836–3John Paul Stevens
• Martinez v. Bynum
  461 U.S. 321Decided May 2, 19838–1Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Palmore v. Sidoti
  466 U.S. 429Decided April 24, 19849–0Warren E. Burger

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Miranda
  459 U.S. 14Decided November 8, 19828–1Per curiam
• City of Port Arthur v. United States
  459 U.S. 159Decided December 13, 19826–3Byron R. White
• City of Lockhart v. United States
  460 U.S. 125Decided February 23, 19836–3Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming
  460 U.S. 226Decided March 2, 19835–4William J. Brennan Jr.
• Briscoe v. Lahue
  460 U.S. 325Decided March 7, 19836–3John Paul Stevens
• Arizona v. California
  460 U.S. 605Decided March 30, 19835–3Byron R. White

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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