Camara v. Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco

387 U.S. 523 · Decided June 5, 1967 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Camara v. Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco was decided on June 5, 1967 by a vote of 6–3. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Search and seizure (general)” in the Criminal Procedure area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents. SCDB records that the Court declared a municipal or other local ordinance unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Camara v. Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco

SCDB identifiers: case 1966-116, docket 1966-116-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Search and seizure (general)”

• See v. City of SeattleLaw held unconstitutional
  387 U.S. 541Decided June 5, 19676–3Byron R. White
• Warden v. HaydenAltered precedent
  387 U.S. 294Decided May 29, 19676–3William J. Brennan Jr.
• Berger v. New YorkAltered precedentLaw held unconstitutional
  388 U.S. 41Decided June 12, 19676–3Tom C. Clark
• Hadley v. Massachusetts
  388 U.S. 464Decided June 12, 19676–3Per curiam
• Hoffa v. United States
  387 U.S. 231Decided May 22, 19677–1Per curiam
• McCray v. Illinois
  386 U.S. 300Decided March 20, 19675–4Potter Stewart

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Fourth Amendment

• Cooper v. California
  386 U.S. 58Decided February 20, 19675–4Hugo L. Black
• Harris v. United States
  390 U.S. 234Decided March 5, 19688–0Per curiam
• Desist v. United States
  394 U.S. 244Decided March 24, 19695–3Potter Stewart
• Kaiser v. New York
  394 U.S. 280Decided March 24, 19696–3Potter Stewart
• Chambers v. Maroney
  399 U.S. 42Decided June 22, 19707–1Byron R. White
• Perini v. Colosimo
  399 U.S. 519Decided June 29, 19709–0Per curiam

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Black v. United States
  385 U.S. 26Decided November 7, 19665–2Per curiam
• Cichos v. Indiana
  385 U.S. 76Decided November 14, 19666–3Byron R. White
• O'Connor v. Ohio
  385 U.S. 92Decided November 14, 19669–0Per curiam
• Lewis v. United States
  385 U.S. 206Decided December 12, 19668–1Earl Warren
• United States v. Fabrizio
  385 U.S. 263Decided December 12, 19667–2John M. Harlan II
• Hoffa v. United States
  385 U.S. 293Decided December 12, 19664–3Potter Stewart

See all

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