City of St. Louis v. James H. Praprotnik
485 U.S. 112 · Decided March 2, 1988 · Supreme Court of the United States
At a glance
City of St. Louis v. James H. Praprotnik was decided on March 2, 1988 by a vote of 7–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the opinion announcing the judgment of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Liability under civil rights acts” in the Civil Rights area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 485 U.S. 112 · 108 S. Ct. 915 · 99 L. Ed. 2d 107 · 1988 U.S. LEXIS 1069
- Docket number
- 86-772
- Decided
- March 2, 1988
- Argued
- October 7, 1987
- Court era
- Rehnquist Court
- Decision type
- Judgment of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 7–1
- Majority opinion
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Opinion assigned by
- William H. Rehnquist
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Liability under civil rights acts
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Legal provision
- Federal Rules of Civil or Appellate Procedure
- Type of law
- Court rules
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Special concurrence | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | |
| Justice Thurgood Marshall | Special concurrence | |
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Special concurrence | |
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist | Majority | |
| Justice John Paul Stevens | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Sandra Day O'Connor | Judgment of the Court | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Antonin Scalia | Majority |
Did not participate: Anthony M. Kennedy.
Full case caption
City of St. Louis v. James H. Praprotnik
SCDB identifiers: case 1987-041, docket 1987-041-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Liability under civil rights acts”
- Forrester v. White
- Loeffler v. Frank
- West v. Atkins
- Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co.
- Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji
- Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb
Cases on the same legal provision: Federal Rules of Civil or Appellate Procedure
- Mercilyn Buchanan Etc. v. Stanships, Inc.
- Omni Capital International, Ltd. v. Rudolf Wolff & Co., Ltd.
- Amadeo v. Zant
- Karcher v. May
- Houston v. Lack
- Torres v. Oakland Scavenger Co.
Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)
- Ronald W. Reagan v. James Abourezk
- Langley et Ux. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Forrester v. White
- Honig v. Doe
- Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Assibi Abudu
- Richard A. Lyng v. International Union
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