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Supreme Court · Decisions

Bell et al. v. Maryland

The Court, in a case over criminal trespass convictions of twelve African American students at a private restaurant, vacated the Maryland Court of Appeals' judgment and remanded because the state law had changed.· AI-written

378 U.S. 226 · No. 12 · 1963 term · Warren Court

Decided Jun 22, 1964 · argued Oct 14, 1963

Civil rights · Sit-in demonstrations

Majority opinion: William Brennan

The voteMajorityDissent

6–36 in the majority, 3 in dissent

3 dissents (6–3)

Reversed and remanded. Bell et al. won.

What this ruling means

Reversed and remanded: the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Maryland Supreme Court and sent the case back to that court for further proceedings that follow the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Bell et al. was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Won” means the Court gave that side the result it asked for.

From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.

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Summary

The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.

Bell v. Maryland, 378 U.S. 226 (1964), provided an opportunity for the Supreme Court of the United States to determine whether racial discrimination in the provision of public accommodations by a privately owned restaurant violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, due to a supervening change in the state law, the Court vacated the judgment of the Maryland Court of Appeals and remanded the case to allow that court to determine whether the convictions for criminal trespass of twelve African American students should be dismissed.

Read the full article on Wikipedia

Data notes

The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.

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How the justices voted

Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 1963 term. Filled: the 6 in the majority. Hollow: the 3 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.

More liberalMore conservativeMedianDouglasBlackWarrenGoldbergBrennanWhiteClarkStewartHarlan

Majority(6)

Dissent(3)

Data notes

Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.

Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.

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The parties

Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.

Petitioner
Bell et al.Person or organization protesting racial or ethnic segregation or discrimination
Respondent
MarylandState (Maryland)
Reached the Court by
Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
Data notes

The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.

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The law at issue

The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.

Decided by
Supreme Court supervision of lower federal or state courts or original jurisdiction
Data notes

The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.

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Timeline

What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.

  1. Jun 22, 1964DecidedDecided · Decided 6–3: reversed and remanded. Bell et al. won.
  2. Oct 14, 1963ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
  3. Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari).
  4. Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the Maryland Supreme Court: affirmed.
  5. Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the Maryland trial court.
Data notes

From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.

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Other decisions on the same issue

16 other argued cases since 1946 on sit-in demonstrations, newest first.

  1. Brown et al. v. Louisiana383 U.S. 131Feb 23, 1966 · 383 U.S. 131Civil rights5–45–4 band

  2. McKinnie et al. v. Tennessee380 U.S. 449Apr 5, 1965 · 380 U.S. 449Civil rights5–45–4 band
  3. Abernathy et al. v. Alabama.380 U.S. 447Apr 5, 1965 · 380 U.S. 447Civil rights7–0Unanimous band
  4. Hamm v. City of Rock Hill379 U.S. 306Dec 14, 1964 · 379 U.S. 306Civil rights5–45–4 band
  5. Bouie et al. v. City of Columbia378 U.S. 347Jun 22, 1964 · 378 U.S. 347Civil rights6–36–3 band

  6. Robinson et al. v. Florida378 U.S. 153Jun 22, 1964 · 378 U.S. 153Civil rights9–0Unanimous band

  7. Barr et al. v. City of Columbia378 U.S. 146Jun 22, 1964 · 378 U.S. 146Civil rights9–0Unanimous band

  8. Griffin et al. v. Maryland378 U.S. 130Jun 22, 1964 · 378 U.S. 130Civil rights6–36–3 band

  9. Avent et al. v. North Carolina.373 U.S. 375May 20, 1963 · 373 U.S. 375Civil rights8–18–1 band
  10. Gober et al. v. City of Birmingham373 U.S. 374May 20, 1963 · 373 U.S. 374Civil rights8–18–1 band
  11. Wright et al. v. Georgia373 U.S. 284May 20, 1963 · 373 U.S. 284Civil rights9–0Unanimous band
  12. Lombard et al. v. Louisiana373 U.S. 267May 20, 1963 · 373 U.S. 267Civil rights8–18–1 band
  13. Shuttlesworth et al. v. City of Birmingham373 U.S. 262May 20, 1963 · 373 U.S. 262Civil rights8–18–1 band
  14. Peterson et al. v. City of Greenville373 U.S. 244May 20, 1963 · 373 U.S. 244Civil rights9–0Unanimous band

  15. Garner et al. v. LouisianaLandmark · Discrimination based on race and ethnicity368 U.S. 157Dec 11, 1961 · 368 U.S. 157Civil rights9–0Unanimous band

  16. Boynton v. VirginiaLandmark · Discrimination based on race and ethnicity364 U.S. 454Dec 5, 1960 · 364 U.S. 454Civil rights7–27–2 band

Data notes

Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.

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Official record

Read the full opinion on Justia, the argument audio on Oyez and Wikipedia. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.