Covey v. Town of Somers
351 U.S. 141 · Decided May 7, 1956 · Supreme Court of the United States
At a glance
Covey v. Town of Somers was decided on May 7, 1956 by a vote of 8–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Due process, hearing or notice” in the Due Process area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 351 U.S. 141 · 76 S. Ct. 724 · 100 L. Ed. 2d 1021 · 1956 U.S. LEXIS 1005
- Docket number
- 380
- Decided
- May 7, 1956
- Argued
- March 29, 1956
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority opinion
- Earl Warren
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Appeal
- Issue (SCDB)
- Due process, hearing or notice
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Legal provision
- Fourteenth Amendment (due process)
- Type of law
- Constitutional amendment
- Held unconstitutional
- A state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | |
| Justice Stanley F. Reed | Majority | |
| Justice Felix Frankfurter | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William O. Douglas | Majority | |
| Justice Harold H. Burton | Majority | |
| Justice Tom C. Clark | Majority | |
| Justice Sherman Minton | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice John M. Harlan II | Majority |
Full case caption
Covey, Committee, v. Town of Somers
SCDB identifiers: case 1955-076, docket 1955-076-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Due process, hearing or notice”
- Walker v. City of HutchinsonLaw held unconstitutional
- Lambert v. CaliforniaLaw held unconstitutional
- Shaughnessy v. United States ex Rel. Mezei
- Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding
- City of New York v. New York
- Sublett v. Adams
Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (due process)
- International Harvester Credit Corp. v. Goodrich
- United States ex Rel. Darcy v. Handy
- Pennsylvania ex Rel. Herman v. Claudy
- Reece v. Georgia
- Chessman v. Teets
- Nelson v. City of New York
Same Term, same area (Due Process)
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