Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc.
349 U.S. 70 · Decided May 9, 1955 · 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
Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc. was decided on May 9, 1955 by a vote of 5–3. SCDB codes the disposition as “petition denied or appeal dismissed.” Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “No merits, writ improvidently granted” in the Judicial Power area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 349 U.S. 70 · 75 S. Ct. 614 · 99 L. Ed. 2d 897 · 1955 U.S. LEXIS 863
- Docket number
- 28
- Decided
- May 9, 1955
- Argued
- November 8, 1954
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–3
- Majority opinion
- Felix Frankfurter
- Opinion assigned by
- Stanley F. Reed
- How the case arrived
- Rehearing or restored to calendar for reargument
- Issue (SCDB)
- No merits, writ improvidently granted
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Legal provision
- Writ improvidently granted
- Type of law
- Other
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Majority | |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Dissent | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Justice Tom C. Clark | Majority | |
| Justice Sherman Minton | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Dissent |
Did not participate: John M. Harlan II.
Full case caption
Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc. et al.
SCDB identifiers: case 1954-071, docket 1954-071-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “No merits, writ improvidently granted”
- Ellis v. Dixon
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- Reeves v. Alabama.
- Stembridge v. Georgia
- Triplett v. Iowa.
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Cases on the same legal provision: Writ improvidently granted
- Wilson v. Loew's Incorporated
- The Monrosa v. Carbon Black Export, Inc.
- Hammerstein v. Superior Court of California
- Newsom v. Smyth
- Benz v. New York State Thruway Authority
- Rudolph et Ux. v. United States
Same Term, same area (Judicial Power)
- Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Co. v. Elbert
- Baltimore Contractors, Inc. v. Bodinger
- California ex Rel. Brown v. St. Louis Union Trust Co.
- Harsh v. Illinois Terminal Railroad Co.
- United States v. California Eastern Line, Inc.
- National City Bank of New York v. Republic of China
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