Williams v. Rhodes

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Williams v. Rhodes
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued October 7, 1968 Decided October 15, 1968
Full case name	Williams et al. v. Rhodes, Governor of Ohio et al.
Citations	393 U.S. 23 (more) 89 S. Ct. 5; 21 L. Ed. 2d 24; 1968 U.S. LEXIS 2959; 45 Ohio Op. 2d 236
Case history
Prior	290 F. Supp. 983 (S.D. Ohio 1968)
Holding
Ohio's restrictive election laws, taken as a whole, were invidiously discriminatory and violated the Equal Protection Clause because they gave the two old, established parties a decided advantage over new parties. Judgment of the District Court affirmed with reference to the Socialist Labor Party case, but modified in the Independent Party case.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Abe Fortas · Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
Majority	Black, joined by Douglas, Brennan, Fortas, Marshall
Concurrence	Douglas
Concurrence	Harlan (in judgment only)
Concur/dissent	White
Concur/dissent	Stewart
Dissent	Warren
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV

Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (1968), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that Ohio had violated the equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of two political parties by refusing to print their candidates' names on the ballot.