Buchanan v. Warley

E101629

Buchanan v. Warley is a 1917 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Louisville racial zoning ordinance, marking an early constitutional limit on government-enforced residential segregation.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case
constitutional law case
landmark civil rights case
alsoKnownAs Buchanan v. Warley
surface form: Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917)
areaOfLaw civil rights law
constitutional law
land use and zoning law
property law
challengedLaw Louisville racial zoning ordinance
citation 245 U.S. 60
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Fourteenth Amendment
surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
country United States of America
surface form: United States
decidedBy Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1917-11-05
decisionType unanimous decision
fullCaseName Buchanan v. Warley self-link
hasJurisdiction United States of America
surface form: United States
historicalContext Jim Crow laws
surface form: Jim Crow era
holding Louisville racial zoning ordinance violated the Fourteenth Amendment
government-enforced racial residential segregation by zoning is unconstitutional
impact constrained municipal power to enforce racial segregation through zoning
limited the use of racial zoning ordinances in the United States
set an early constitutional limit on government-enforced residential segregation
legalIssue Fourteenth Amendment
due process clause
freedom of contract
racial zoning ordinance
residential segregation
municipalActionChallenged ordinance prohibiting Black people from buying property on majority-white blocks
ordinance prohibiting white people from buying property on majority-Black blocks
opinionBy Justice William R. Day
originatingCity Louisville, Kentucky
originatingState Kentucky
partyRaceContext involved a white seller and a Black purchaser of property
petitioner William Warley
precedentFor later challenges to racially discriminatory housing laws
limitations on explicit racial classifications in zoning
relatedTo Brown v. Board of Education
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
surface form: Plessy v. Ferguson

Shelley v. Kraemer
respondent Charles H. Buchanan
rightRecognized freedom of contract in real estate transactions
property rights of Black purchasers
subjectMatter individual property rights
municipal police power
racial segregation in housing
typeOfSegregationAddressed de jure residential segregation
yearDecided 1917

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Shelley v. Kraemer relatedCase Buchanan v. Warley
Corrigan v. Buckley precededBy Buchanan v. Warley
Buchanan v. Warley fullCaseName Buchanan v. Warley self-link
Buchanan v. Warley alsoKnownAs Buchanan v. Warley
this entity surface form: Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917)