Supreme Court of the United States, 1961

The Supreme Court reversed the Florida Supreme Court, holding that the Florida statutory oath requiring employees to affirm they have never aided the Communist Party is unconstitutionally vague and violates the Due Process Clause, and that the plaintiff has standing to challenge the statute.

The Court, through Chief Justice Warren, reversed the convictions of Black students who peacefully occupied segregated lunch counters because the records contained no evidence of conduct constituting a disturbance of the peace under Louisiana law.

The Supreme Court affirmed the Florida Supreme Court, holding that Florida’s jury‑selection statute, which exempts women from jury service unless they register, does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, either on its face or as applied to the appellant’s case.

Justice Black’s opinion held that Maryland could not condition appointment to public office on a declaration of belief in God. The First Amendment’s religious-freedom guarantees, applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibit compelled professions of religious belief and governmental preferences…

The Supreme Court held that Missouri's procedures for searching for and seizing allegedly obscene publications, as applied, denied the distributor and newsstand operators due process under the Fourteenth Amendment: the warrants issued ex parte on a single officer's conclusory complaints, described no particular…

Justice Stewart's majority opinion held that presidentially approved Navy Regulations expressly authorized the commanding officer to exclude a civilian cafeteria employee summarily from the Naval Gun Factory and that, under the circumstances, the Fifth Amendment did not require notice of specific grounds or a hearing.

The Court unanimously held that pervasive inflammatory publicity and the demonstrated prejudice of the seated jurors deprived Irvin of a fair trial under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court affirmed a three-judge district court's dismissal of Orthodox Jewish merchants' challenge to Pennsylvania's 1959 Sunday retail-closing statute. Chief Justice Warren, joined by Black, Clark, and Whittaker, held that the statute does not violate the Free Exercise Clause because it regulates secular…

The Court held that the restaurant's refusal to serve Burton because of his race constituted discriminatory state action because the publicly owned parking facility and its restaurant tenant were financially and operationally interdependent.

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that the replacement of the unpatented fabric in a patented convertible top is permissible repair, not reconstruction, so neither direct nor contributory infringement occurs.

The Court held that replacing the worn-out, unpatented fabric of a patented convertible-top combination is permissible repair, not infringing reconstruction, and reversed the Court of Appeals.

Justice Douglas's opinion held that § 1983 reaches constitutional deprivations caused by officials' misuse of authority even when their conduct violates state law. The federal remedy supplements state remedies and requires neither prior resort to state court nor specific intent to deprive a person of a federal right.

Justice Black, writing for a unanimous Court, held that the Sherman Act does not prohibit genuine concerted efforts to influence legislation or law enforcement, even when those efforts seek to eliminate competitors, employ deceptive publicity techniques, or incidentally damage competitors’ business relationships.