Williams v. Georgia
349 U.S. 375 · Decided June 6, 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
Williams v. Georgia was decided on June 6, 1955 by a vote of 6–3. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Desegregation (general)” in the Civil Rights area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 349 U.S. 375 · 75 S. Ct. 814 · 99 L. Ed. 2d 1161 · 1955 U.S. LEXIS 601
- Docket number
- 412
- Decided
- June 6, 1955
- Argued
- April 18, 1955
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority opinion
- Felix Frankfurter
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Desegregation (general)
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Legal provision
- Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Dissent | |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Majority | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Justice Tom C. Clark | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Sherman Minton | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority | |
| Justice John M. Harlan II | Majority |
Full case caption
Williams v. Georgia
SCDB identifiers: case 1954-091, docket 1954-091-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Desegregation (general)”
- Reece v. Georgia
- Michel v. Louisiana
- Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc.
- Hernandez v. Texas
- Barrows v. Jackson
- District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co., Inc.
Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
- Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc.
- Watson et Ux. v. Employers Liability Assurance Corporation, Ltd.
- Florida ex Rel. Hawkins v. Board of Control of Florida
- Griffin v. IllinoisLaw held unconstitutional
- Brown v. Board of Education of TopekaAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)
- Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc.
- United States v. Brown
- Diehl v. Lehigh Valley Railroad Co.
- United States v. Menasche
- Shomberg v. United States
- Pino v. Landon
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