Supreme Court of the United States, 1960

Justice Stewart's opinion for the Court held that Arkansas's requirement that every public-school and public-college teacher disclose all organizational memberships and regular contributions over five years violated associational freedom protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Court held that the Interstate Commerce Act prohibited racial discrimination against an interstate bus passenger by a terminal restaurant that functioned as an integral part of the carrier's transportation service.

The Court held that allegations that Alabama redrew Tuskegee's boundaries to exclude nearly all Black voters while excluding no white residents stated a claim under the Fifteenth Amendment and entitled the petitioners to prove their allegations at trial.

Justice Stewart's opinion rejected the silver platter doctrine, holding that evidence seized by state officers in circumstances that would violate the Fourth Amendment if federal officers conducted the search is inadmissible upon timely objection in a federal criminal trial.

Justice Harlan's opinion for the Court held that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to review the denial of Schilling's claim for return of vested property under § 32(a) of the Trading with the Enemy Act.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Douglas announced by Justice Brennan, held that courts may not reject a labor arbitrator's contractual interpretation merely because they disagree with it.

The Court, in an opinion by Douglas announced by Brennan, held that the union's contracting-out grievance was subject to arbitration. Courts decide whether the parties agreed to arbitrate, but must resolve doubts in favor of coverage and may deny arbitration only with positive assurance that the arbitration clause…

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Douglas announced by Justice Brennan, held that courts may not refuse to compel arbitration of a grievance covered on its face by a collective bargaining agreement merely because they consider it frivolous or without merit.

The Supreme Court affirmed the district court, holding that the federal tax lien under §§6321‑6322 attaches only to the taxpayers' property interest as defined by North Carolina law, which limits the Government’s recovery to the amount remaining after subcontractors are paid.

The Court held that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to review the Executive Branch's denial of the petitioner's claim for return of property proceeds under § 32(a) of the Trading with the Enemy Act.

The Supreme Court reversed the convictions of nine individuals and two banks for mail fraud and conspiracy, holding that the legally compelled mailings of tax notices and related documents were not "for the purpose of executing" a fraudulent scheme under 18 U.S.C.

The Supreme Court reversed the convictions, holding that the mailings compelled by state law for tax collection were not "for the purpose of executing" a fraudulent scheme under 18 U.S.C. §1341, and therefore the mail fraud and conspiracy convictions could not stand.

The Court affirmed Levine’s contempt conviction, holding that the exclusion of the public from the grand‑jury‑initiated proceeding did not violate the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause nor the Sixth Amendment’s public‑trial guarantee because the petitioner never objected or requested the courtroom be opened.

The Court affirmed Levine's criminal-contempt conviction and one-year sentence arising from his refusal to answer immunized grand-jury questions. It held that due process generally requires appropriate regard for public proceedings in criminal-contempt adjudications, but the courtroom's continued closure did not deny…

The Supreme Court held that the unfair‑labor‑practice complaints against the employer and union were barred by the six‑month statute of limitations in §10(b) of the NLRA because the complaints were based on the illegal execution of the collective‑bargaining agreement, which occurred outside the limitations period.

Justice Harlan's opinion held that § 10(b)'s six-month limitations period barred complaints attacking continued enforcement of a facially lawful union-security agreement when the alleged illegality depended entirely on the union's lack of majority status at execution outside the limitations period.

The Court held per curiam that competency to stand trial requires sufficient present ability to consult with counsel with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings. Orientation to time and place and some recollection of events are insufficient.

The Court, through Justice Frankfurter, held that Jones had standing to challenge the search both because the prosecution depended on possession of the seized narcotics and because he was legitimately present in the apartment with its occupant’s permission.

Justice Black, writing for a unanimous Court, held that convicting and punishing a person without any evidence of guilt violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The record contained no evidence supporting Thompson's convictions for loitering and disorderly conduct: he was welcome in the cafe, explained…

The Court held that Los Angeles’s blanket prohibition on distributing handbills without identifying their authors, printers, or sponsors was facially invalid under the freedoms of speech and press protected against state infringement by the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Court held that Los Angeles's ordinance requiring identification on all handbills is a facially invalid prior restraint on speech and therefore void, reversing Talley's conviction and remanding for further proceedings. The decision rests on precedent that such blanket bans on distribution are unconstitutional.

Justice Stewart’s opinion for the Court reversed the convictions for refusing to disclose local NAACP membership lists. The Fourteenth Amendment protects freedom of association, and the demonstrated risk of harassment, threats, and economic reprisals made compelled public disclosure a substantial interference with…

The Supreme Court held that a notice of appeal filed after expiration of the 10-day period prescribed by Fed. R. Crim. P. 37(a)(2) does not confer jurisdiction on the Court of Appeals, even where the District Court finds under Rule 45(b) that the late filing resulted from excusable neglect, because Rule 45(b) states…

Justice Black delivered the Court's unanimous opinion reversing Stirone's Hobbs Act conviction. Extortion threatening a concrete supplier's interstate receipts of sand fell within the Act.

Justice Brennan's opinion of the Court held that Los Angeles could not impose criminal liability on a bookseller for possessing an obscene book while eliminating every mental element of the offense.