Wilko v. Swan
346 U.S. 427 · Decided December 7, 1953 · 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
Wilko v. Swan was decided on December 7, 1953 by a vote of 7–2. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Stanley F. Reed wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Securities regulation” in the Economic Activity area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 346 U.S. 427 · 74 S. Ct. 182 · 98 L. Ed. 2d 168 · 1953 U.S. LEXIS 2673
- Docket number
- 39
- Decided
- December 7, 1953
- Argued
- October 21, 1953
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority opinion
- Stanley F. Reed
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Securities regulation
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Legal provision
- Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or Williams Act
- Type of law
- Federal statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Majority | |
| Justice Robert H. Jackson | Concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Justice Tom C. Clark | Majority | |
| Justice Sherman Minton | Dissent | |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority |
Full case caption
Wilko v. Swan et Al., Doing Business as Hayden, Stone & Co., et al.
SCDB identifiers: case 1953-015, docket 1953-015-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Securities regulation”
- General Protective Committee for the Holders of Option Warrants of the United Corporation v. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Securities & Exchange Commission v. Ralston Purina Co.
- Securities and Exchange Commission v. Drexel & Co.
- Niagara Hudson Power Corp. v. Leventritt
- Securities and Exchange Commission v. Central-Illinois Securities Corp.
- Securities and Exchange Commission v. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. of America
Cases on the same legal provision: Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or Williams Act
- General American Investors Co., Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
- Silver v. New York Stock Exchange
- Mills v. Electric Auto-Lite Co.
- Gordon v. New York Stock Exchange, Inc.
- Radzanower v. Touche Ross & Co.
- Leroy v. Great Western United Corp.
Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)
- Voris v. Eikel
- Toolson v. New York Yankees, Inc.
- Avondale Marine Ways, Inc. v. Henderson
- Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn
- General Protective Committee for the Holders of Option Warrants of the United Corporation v. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Theatre Enterprises, Inc. v. Paramount Film Distributing Corp.
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