Philpott v. Essex County Welfare Board

409 U.S. 413 · Decided January 10, 1973 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Philpott v. Essex County Welfare Board was decided on January 10, 1973 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William O. Douglas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Poverty law, statutory welfare benefits” in the Civil Rights area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision 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

Philpott et al. v. Essex County Welfare Board

SCDB identifiers: case 1972-032, docket 1972-032-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: Social Security Act

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Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

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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