Richardson v. Belcher

404 U.S. 78 · Decided November 22, 1971 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Richardson v. Belcher was decided on November 22, 1971 by a vote of 4–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Potter Stewart wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Poverty law, constitutional” 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

Richardson, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare v. Belcher

SCDB identifiers: case 1971-015, docket 1971-015-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Poverty law, constitutional”

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

• United States v. Kras
  409 U.S. 434Decided January 10, 19735–4Harry A. Blackmun
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  411 U.S. 677Decided May 14, 19738–1William J. Brennan Jr.
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  417 U.S. 535Decided June 17, 19749–0Harry A. Blackmun
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• Weinberger v. WiesenfeldLaw held unconstitutional
  420 U.S. 636Decided March 19, 19758–0William J. Brennan Jr.
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  426 U.S. 229Decided June 7, 19767–2Byron R. White

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
• Mayer v. City of Chicago
  404 U.S. 189Decided December 13, 19717–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Britt v. North Carolina
  404 U.S. 226Decided December 13, 19715–2Thurgood Marshall

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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