Sunal v. Large

332 U.S. 174 · Decided June 23, 1947 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Sunal v. Large was decided on June 23, 1947 by a vote of 6–3. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice William O. Douglas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Conscientious objectors” in the First Amendment 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

Sunal v. Large, Superintendent, Federal Prison Camp

SCDB identifiers: case 1946-132, docket 1946-132-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Conscientious objectors”

• Cox v. United States
  332 U.S. 442Decided November 24, 19475–4Stanley F. Reed
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• Eagles v. United States ex Rel. Horowitz
  329 U.S. 317Decided December 23, 19469–0William O. Douglas
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  329 U.S. 338Decided December 23, 19469–0Wiley B. Rutledge
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  346 U.S. 1Decided June 8, 19535–3Fred M. Vinson
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Cases on the same legal provision: Selective Service statutes

• Trailmobile Company v. Whirls
  331 U.S. 40Decided April 14, 19477–2Wiley B. Rutledge
• Mogall v. United States
  333 U.S. 424Decided March 8, 19489–0Per curiam
• Hilton v. Sullivan
  334 U.S. 323Decided June 1, 19489–0Hugo L. Black
• Aeronautical Industrial District Lodge 727 v. Campbell
  337 U.S. 521Decided June 20, 19499–0Felix Frankfurter
• Oakley v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co.
  338 U.S. 278Decided November 14, 19498–0Harold H. Burton
• Robertson v. Chambers
  341 U.S. 37Decided April 9, 19519–0William O. Douglas

Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Eagles v. United States ex Rel. Samuels
  329 U.S. 304Decided December 23, 19469–0William O. Douglas
• Eagles v. United States ex Rel. Horowitz
  329 U.S. 317Decided December 23, 19469–0William O. Douglas
• Gibson v. United States
  329 U.S. 338Decided December 23, 19469–0Wiley B. Rutledge
• Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing
  330 U.S. 1Decided February 10, 19475–4Hugo L. Black
• Oklahoma v. United States Civil Service Commission
  330 U.S. 127Decided February 10, 19475–2Stanley F. Reed
• Craig v. Harney
  331 U.S. 367Decided May 19, 19476–3William O. Douglas

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