Home > Great American Court Cases > Shelley v. Kraemer

Legal Citation: 334 U.S. 1 (1948)

Appellant
J. D. Shelley

Appellee
Louis Kraemer

Appellant's Claim
That restrictive covenants in real estate contracts preventing occupancy by African Americans violates the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws.

Chief Lawyers for Appellant
George L. Vaughn, Herman Willer

Chief Lawyer for Appellee
Gerald L. Seegers

Justices for the Court
Hugo Lafayette Black, Harold Burton, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter, Frank Murphy, Fred Moore Vinson (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting
None (Robert H. Jackson, Stanley Forman Reed, Wiley Blount Rutledge did not participate)

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
3 May 1948

Decision
The Supreme Court ruled that although such covenants can be...