Corrigan v. Buckley

Corrigan et al. v. Buckley
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 8, 1926
Decided May 24, 1926
Full case nameCorrigan et al. v. Buckley
Citations271 U.S. 323 (more)
46 S. Ct. 521; 70 L. Ed. 969
Holding
This decision dismissed any constitutional grounds for challenges racially restrictive covenants and upheld the legal right of property owners to enforce these discriminatory agreements.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William H. Taft
Associate Justices
Oliver W. Holmes Jr. · Willis Van Devanter
James C. McReynolds · Louis Brandeis
George Sutherland · Pierce Butler
Edward T. Sanford · Harlan F. Stone
Case opinion
MajoritySanford, joined by unanimous
Overruled by
Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)

Corrigan v. Buckley, 271 U.S. 323 (1926), was a US Supreme Court case in 1926 that ruled that the racially-restrictive covenant of multiple residents on S Street NW, between 18th Street and New Hampshire Avenue, in Washington, DC, was a legally-binding document that made the selling of a house to a black family a void contract.[1] This ruling set the precedent upholding racially restrictive covenants in Washington; soon after this ruling, racially restrictive covenants flourished around the nation.[2] Subsequently, in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) the court reconsidered such covenants and found that racially restrictive covenants are unenforceable.

  1. ^ Corrigan v. Buckley, 271 U.S. 323 (1926).
  2. ^ Asch, Chris Myers; Musgrove, George Derek (2017). Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469635866.