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Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc.

348 U.S. 880 · Decided November 15, 1954 · Supreme Court of the United States

Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.

At a glance

Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc. was decided on November 15, 1954 by a vote of 4–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. The Justices were equally divided, which leaves the lower court's judgment in place without setting precedent. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Desegregation (general)” in the Civil Rights area.

Read the opinion

Case details

Citations
348 U.S. 880 · 75 S. Ct. 122 · 99 L. Ed. 2d 693 · 1954 U.S. LEXIS 1484
Docket number
28
Decided
November 15, 1954
Argued
November 8, 1954
Court era
Warren Court
Decision type
Equally divided vote
Disposition
Affirmed
Outcome for petitioner
The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
Vote
4–4
How the case arrived
Certiorari
Issue area
Civil Rights
Decision direction (SCDB)
Conservative what this means

How the Justices voted

JusticeVoteSeparate writing
Justice Hugo L. BlackEqually divided vote
Justice Stanley F. ReedEqually divided vote
Justice Felix FrankfurterEqually divided vote
Justice William O. DouglasEqually divided vote
Justice Harold H. BurtonEqually divided vote
Justice Tom C. ClarkEqually divided vote
Justice Sherman MintonEqually divided vote
Chief Justice Earl WarrenEqually divided vote

Full case caption

Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc. et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1954-052, docket 1954-052-01.

Other cases on “Desegregation (general)”

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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