Schlesinger v. Ballard

419 U.S. 498 · Decided January 15, 1975 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Schlesinger v. Ballard was decided on January 15, 1975 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Potter Stewart wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Sex discrimination (excluding employment)” 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

Schlesinger, Secretary of Defense, et al. v. Ballard

SCDB identifiers: case 1974-024, docket 1974-024-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Sex discrimination (excluding employment)”

• Taylor v. LouisianaAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  419 U.S. 522Decided January 21, 19758–1Byron R. White
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  420 U.S. 636Decided March 19, 19758–0William J. Brennan Jr.
• Stanton v. StantonLaw held unconstitutional
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  416 U.S. 351Decided April 24, 19746–3William O. Douglas
• Frontiero et Vir v. RichardsonLaw held unconstitutional
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Cases on the same legal provision: Fifth Amendment (due process)

• Secretary of the Navy v. Avrech
  418 U.S. 676Decided July 8, 19746–3Per curiam
• Parker v. Levy
  417 U.S. 733Decided June 19, 19745–3William H. Rehnquist
• Arnett v. Kennedy
  416 U.S. 134Decided April 16, 19745–4William H. Rehnquist
• United States v. Powell
  423 U.S. 87Decided December 2, 19758–0William H. Rehnquist
• Marshall v. United States
  414 U.S. 417Decided January 9, 19746–3Warren E. Burger
• Mathews v. Eldridge
  424 U.S. 319Decided February 24, 19766–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Saxbe v. Bustos
  419 U.S. 65Decided November 25, 19745–4William O. Douglas
• Schick v. Reed
  419 U.S. 256Decided December 23, 19746–3Warren E. Burger
• Sosna v. Iowa
  419 U.S. 393Decided January 14, 19756–3William H. Rehnquist
• Taylor v. LouisianaAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  419 U.S. 522Decided January 21, 19758–1Byron R. White
• United States v. Mazurie
  419 U.S. 544Decided January 21, 19759–0William H. Rehnquist
• North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  419 U.S. 601Decided January 22, 19756–3Byron R. White

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