Rizzo v. Goode

423 U.S. 362 · Decided January 21, 1976 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Rizzo v. Goode was decided on January 21, 1976 by a vote of 5–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Comity, civil rights” in the Judicial Power area.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: John Paul Stevens.

Full case caption

Rizzo, Mayor of Philadelphia, et al. v. Goode et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1975-029, docket 1975-029-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Reconstruction Civil Rights Acts)

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Same Term, same area (Judicial Power)

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• Dove v. United StatesAltered precedent
  423 U.S. 325Decided January 19, 19768–1Per curiam

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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