Townsend v. Swank

404 U.S. 282 · Decided December 20, 1971 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Townsend v. Swank was decided on December 20, 1971 unanimously (7–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Poverty law, constitutional” 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

Townsend et al. v. Swank, Director, Department of Public Aid of Illinois, et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1971-028, docket 1971-028-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Poverty law, constitutional”

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Cases on the same legal provision: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (Social Security Act)

• Engelman v. Amos
  404 U.S. 23Decided November 9, 19717–0Per curiam
• Carleson v. Remillard
  406 U.S. 598Decided June 7, 19729–0William O. Douglas
• Lewis v. Martin
  397 U.S. 552Decided April 20, 19706–2William O. Douglas
• Shea v. Vialpando
  416 U.S. 251Decided April 23, 19749–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Burns v. Alcala
  420 U.S. 575Decided March 18, 19757–1Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Lascaris v. Shirley
  420 U.S. 730Decided March 19, 19756–3Per curiam

Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• Engelman v. Amos
  404 U.S. 23Decided November 9, 19717–0Per curiam
• Doherty v. United States
  404 U.S. 28Decided November 9, 19717–0Per curiam
• Schreiner v. United States
  404 U.S. 67Decided November 16, 19717–0Per curiam
• Reed v. ReedLaw held unconstitutional
  404 U.S. 71Decided November 22, 19717–0Warren E. Burger
• Richardson v. Belcher
  404 U.S. 78Decided November 22, 19714–3Potter Stewart
• Mayer v. City of Chicago
  404 U.S. 189Decided December 13, 19717–0William J. Brennan Jr.

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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